Forbes Middle East has announced the list of the 100 most powerful CEOs in the Middle East. Six CEOs of Kuwaiti companies and banks are among the list: Eng. Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi, Sheikha Dana Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad, Issam Al-Sager, Tariq Sultan, Ilham Mahfouz, and Muhammad Al-Osaimi. In terms of the full list, it included 26 different nationalities for the most powerful CEOs in the Middle East, led by the Emiratis with 19 CEOs, followed by the Egyptians with 16 leaders, and the Saudis with 15 business leaders.

Seven leaders came in each of the energy and logistics sector, while the value of the companies run by the 100 most powerful CEOs in the Middle East exceeds about $5 trillion, and their revenues amounted to more than $1 trillion last year, reports a local Arabic daily.

Returning to the list of the most powerful CEOs in Kuwait, the list was topped by the Vice Chairman and CEO of Zain Group M. Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi, while he ranked 35th in the overall ranking. Al-Kharafi took the position of Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zain Group in 2014, and Group CEO in 2017. Today, the group operates in 7 countries in the Middle East and Africa, and serves about 50.9 million customers. Until March 2022, and in August 2021, the company announced the launch of the Zain Ventures Fund, which invested and signed a memorandum of understanding with the American company (Pipe) and Swvl in the UAE.

Al-Kharafi is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Executive Committee of the Kuwait Stock Exchange, a member of the Board of Directors of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and is also the founder of the private joint stock company (BNK Holding).

The CEO of Kuwait Projects Group Holding (KIPCO) Sheikha Adana Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad came in second place in Kuwait and 58th overall. She assumed the position of CEO of the group at the beginning of 2022, after assuming membership in the Board of Directors since 2020. The company’s revenues last year amounted to 2.4 billion It also achieved a net profit of $23.8 million, and its assets amounted to $33.7 billion, in March 2022, and the company announced an agreement to merge with Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company.

Sheikha Dana Al-Nasser is also the founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American University of Kuwait, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of United Education Company. She is also a member of the Boards of Directors of Gulf Insurance Group, Kamco Invest and (OSN), as well as previously held the position of CEO of Al Fotouh Holding Company.

Issam Al-Sager, Vice Chairman and CEO of the National Bank of Kuwait Group, came in third place in Kuwait and 59th overall. The National Bank of Kuwait has 140 branches in 14 countries, and employs 7,511 employees.

In 2021, the National Bank of Kuwait launched the first digital bank in Kuwait (WiYi), and in March 2022, it launched the sustainable financing framework, to integrate environmental, social and governance standards into its operations, and plans to reduce total operational emissions by 25% by 2025, to reach Operationally net-zero emissions by 2035. Al-Sager is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Bank of Kuwait (International) and is a member of the Boards of Directors of NBK Wealth Management, NBK Properties and NBK Trustees.

In the fourth and 67th place in the overall ranking, the CEO and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Agility, Tariq Sultan, has been the CEO of Agility since 1997, and it is today one of the largest logistics companies in the Middle East and North Africa, with assets of $9.5 billion and revenues Valued at $1.6 billion in 2021.

It employs 16,000 people and has 14,000 shareholders. It also operates in more than 40 countries, through 16 subsidiaries until the end of last year. He is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Humanitarian Systems, and a trustee of the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, among other leadership roles.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Commercial Bank of Kuwait, Elham Mahfouz, ranked fifth in Kuwait and the 70th overall in the list.

The bank recorded revenues of $488 million and assets of $14.1 billion in 2021. The bank also announced financing for new projects for the past year worth $1.6 billion, including a new public-private partnership project sponsored by the Public Authority for Housing Welfare. The Commercial Bank of Kuwait participated as one of the lead managers for a syndicated loan for the Oilfield Production Facility project, amounting to approximately $398 million. Mahfouz is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Money Changers in London.

In the sixth and 96th place in the overall ranking, the CEO of Boursa Kuwait, Muhammad Al-Osaimi, came to Boursa Kuwait in 2015 as a member of the board of directors and head of the markets sector, and then took the position of CEO in 2019.

The company’s revenues amounted to $101 million, its assets exceeded $360 million, and it achieved a net profit of $65 million in 2021. Boursa Kuwait had 167 companies listed in 13 sectors with a market value of $135.2 billion until the end of 2021.

Forbes explained that the CEO of any company or bank is responsible for the success or failure of the company he leads, regardless of the economic environment, market conditions and other factors. This has become clear in the Middle East, especially after the improvement in the application of corporate governance principles over the past years, and the tendency of many companies to separate ownership and management.

This trend has also increased strongly on the part of state-owned companies, as sectors such as defense and utilities are now being integrated and listed in the financial markets, making CEOs primarily focus on long-term returns through innovation, use of technology and application of environmental, social and corporate governance practices.


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