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Progress is being made towards gender equity on UAE boards, though it will take time for the impact of a quota put in place last year to fully take root, according to social enterprise Aurora50.
Following a mandate from the UAE government that there must be at least one woman on the board of listed companies by March 2021, 42 out of 111 have complied as of August 2021.
After companies hold their annual general meetings over the coming month, a picture will emerge of how many more boards have complied since the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) mandate was enacted.
At present, companies who have all male boards must appoint a woman when new boards are appointed, or if a board member resigns before the end of their term. Boards typically have three-year terms.
A recent female board appointee is Fatima Abdalla Al Fatim, who was appointed to the board of Arkan Building Materials PJSC after graduating from the Pathway20 programme organised by Aurora50, a social enterprise that works towards accelerating gender balance in Middle Eastern boardrooms.
Aurora50 Co-founder Diana Wilde explained the importance of diversity on boards: “An effective board requires a diverse mix of directors with the right competencies, industry knowledge and experience. Studies have also shown that companies with women directors on their board outperform their peers and SCA is striving to enhance the performance of the country’s financial markets. Quotas are well known for accelerating this process,” she said.
“In 2020, only 28 seats were held by women, and we look forward to seeing the results of this year’s AGMs as we can see that progress is accelerating,” Wilde said.
Aurora50’s report, which is to be published later this month, is sponsored by state oil giant ADNOC, which as of March 2021 had 17 women across its 22 boards.
(Reporting by Imogen Lillywhite; editing by Seban Scaria)
