Forbes Middle East - November 2023 - English

TOP CREATORS OF ARAB-ORIGINS ARAB YOUTH'S ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT

Ahmad Haffar

THE FORBES 400

MEET THE 7 BILLIONAIRES UNDER 30 5 STANDOUT MIDDLE EAST 30 UNDER 30 ALUMNI

Fahad Al-Kaabi Amro Maskoun

Mohammed Aqra

Sharifah Alhinai Kareem Ayyad

Amira Sajwani Dana Alsulaiman

Abdulaziz Bakr

Abdullah Bakr

30 UNDER 30 MEET THE MIDDLE EAST’S CLASS OF 2023. THE REGION’S 120 MOST IMPACTFUL YOUNG INNOVATORS, DETERMINED TO CHANGE THE WORLD AROUND THEM.

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NOVEMBER 2023 ISSUE 134

OTHERS................................$4

OMAN.........................OMR 1.5

BAHRAIN...................BHD 1.5

UAE............................... AED 15

QATAR.......................... QAR 15

KUWAIT.................. KWD 1.25

SAUDI ARABIA...........SAR 15

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CONTENTS

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44 I Good Vibes

56 I Tuning Up

Abdullah and Abdulaziz Bakr, Cofounders of The Saudi Reporters, have built a fanbase of 8.7 million subscribers on YouTube with their comedy videos. Now, the twin brothers are tapping into Saudi Arabia’s cinematic charge.

By Samar Khouri

Singer Al Walid El Hallani has been a rising star in the Arab world since winning the regional version of Celebrity Duets in 2019. The son of a musical titan in the Middle East, he’s now hoping to build his own legacy.

By Nancy Bahmad

30 30

UNDER

70 I New Energy Ali Makki, Cofounder of Kilimanjaro Energy, is building a sustainable energy ecosystem, blending the best in Chinese tech with the boundless potential of Africa and the Middle East.

By Hannah Stewart

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86 I Guiding Star Abdelrazek Aly, cofounder and CEO of Qatar-based startup Bonocle, set out to empower the blind community when he launched the revolutionary braille-based technology in 2016.

Having now hit the $1.1 million mark in total funding, he’s hoping to help more of MENA’s visually impaired people.

By Hagar Omran

NOVEMBER 2023

November 2023

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UNDER

38 I Property Royalty

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PHOTOGRAPH BY MUSTAPHA AZAB FOR FORBES MIDDLE EAST

Amira Sajwani, Founder and CEO of Dubai-based proptech startup PRYPCO, has set out to digitize real estate. With property in her blood and a legacy to expand, she’s building on strong foundations.

By Layan Abo Shkier

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Redefining the possibilities with Robotic-Assisted Surgeries F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

NOVEMBER 2023

6 I Sidelines A New Hope

By Claudine Coletti FRONTRUNNER

10 I Natural Leader

CONTENTS

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Razan Al Mubarak, the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for the COP28 Presidency, is advocating for nature-based solutions to protect the environment and potentially save developing countries at least $104 billion by 2030.

By Jamila Gandhi

14 I Million Dollar Mime In just three years, Khaby Lame, with more than 160 million fans, has become the most popular tiktoker in the world—without speaking a single word. Brands are now clamoring to pay the quiet comedian a fortune for a piece of his social media magic.

By Steven Bertoni LEADERBOARDS

18 I Top Creators of Arab-Origins The Forbes Top Creators list 2023 ranked creators based on their gross earnings from June 2022 to June 2023, as well as their followers, engagement, and a one-to-four entrepreneurial scale.

These three listees are of Arab descent, with combined earnings of $31.5 million.

By Mariam Moursi

20 I Meet The 7 Billionaires Under 30 The world’s seven billionaires under the age of 30 have a combined fortune of $17.4 billion. One is a self-made entrepreneur, while the rest inherited their wealth. Here’s a look at the world’s youngest billionaires. Net worths are as of October 10, 2023.

By Hagar Omran

30 I The Forbes 400 America’s superrich are riding high again. After losing a collective $500 billion last year, the nation’s 400 wealthiest people have gained it all back and are now worth $4.5 trillion in aggregate.

Edited by Rob LaFranco and Chase Peterson-Withorn

108 I Thoughts On Legacy

22 I 5 Standout Middle East 30 Under 30 Alumni Of the 150 remarkable young listees previously featured across the last five editions of Forbes Middle East’s 30 Under 30 list, here are five alumni who have gone on to make outstanding contributions to their fields. The ages given are as of October 2023.

By Engy Abdal Monem

24 I Meet the Forbes 30 Under 30 2023

Honorees With Arab Roots

The innovators on the Forbes 30 Under 30 2023 list have collectively raised more than $ 5.3 billion in funding, with 23% identifying as immigrants. Here are some notable Forbes 30 Under 30 North America 2023 honorees with Arab Roots. Ages are as of December 2022.

By Rawan Hassan

25 I Arab Youth’s Entrepreneurial Spirit In a rapidly changing world, Arab youth are poised to become the driving force of innovation and economic growth in MENA. We explore the evolving trends shaping their professional landscape.

By Ashraqat Osama THOUGHT LEADERS

23 I Public And Private Sectors Must Work

Together To Fight Climate Change

90 I Z uck Grows Up As social media’s poster boy approaches 40, he’s having his Bill Gates moment: mellowing (a bit), maturing (a bit) and upending his company with staggering confidence. It’s a big bet on the future of daily human life—and his legacy.

By Kerry A. Dolan

By Hatem Dowidar

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NOVEMBER 2023

IMPACTING

LIVES

REDUCING CARBON FOOTPRINT ENGAGING PEOPLE SUSTAINABLE FACILITIES MANAGEMENT SERVICES AT THE FOREFRONT

COMMITMENTS

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EMISSION REDUCTION

WASTE

RENEWABLE ENERGY MANAGEMENT

CARBON NEUTRALITY ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION

WATER CONSERVATION

ENVIRONMENT INNOVATIVE RETROFITS

RECYCLING

ENERGY-EFFICIENCY

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

SOCIAL

ETHICAL HIRING RECOGNITION DEVELOPMENT SUSTAINABLE SOURCING PROGRESSION

ENGAGEMENT

COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT

HOLISTIC WELL-BEING LOCAL SUPPLIERS EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE WORKFORCE SERVICE DELIVERY

USER EXPERIENCE

GOVERNANCE INTERNAL CONTROLS STATUTORY AND REGULATORY COMPLIANCE CORPORATE TRANSPARENCY GOVERNANCE

RISK MANAGEMENT RESILIENCE

ETHICS ANTI-CORRUPTION

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SIDELINES

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A New Hope It’s that time of year again when we bring you the Middle East edition of one of the centerpieces of the Forbes platform: our 30 Under 30. This list brings to the forefront the young up-and-comers from across the region who are achieving early success and supporting innovation in their industries, from social enterprise to sport, ecommerce, Fintech, entertainment, and science.

Our ‘Class of 2023’ is more significant than ever, with 120 entries across four main categories. The 2023 list features 145 people representing 22 nationalities based across 20 countries. Egyptians feature the most, with 44 individuals, followed by 15 Saudis, 14 Lebanese, 13 Emiratis, and 10 Jordanians. All are based in the Middle East or have their primary business or conduct their core activities here, and all were under the age of 30 on December 31, 2022. Of the 145 individuals, 107 have founded their own businesses, with the most funded company being the U.A.E.-based Astra Tech, which raised $500 million from G42.

While the average age of everyone on the list is around 26.6 years old, the youngest entries this year are two teenagers taking home accolades in sports. Our youngest listee, Egyptian table tennis champion Hana Goda, was just 15 years old at the cut-off date and earned her place by becoming the youngest winner of a continental cup in 2022 at the women’s singles championship at the ITTF-Africa Cup, followed by winning the women’s singles at the 2023 ITTF African Championships. You’ll be seeing more from her in the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Meanwhile, Iraqi weightlifter Ali Ammar Rubaiawi was 18 at the cut-off date and caught the attention of judges by placing second in the Men’s 109kg category at the 2022 IWF Junior World Championships and being ranked second in the world for juniors in the 2023 Annual World Ranking of the IWF. This month, we delve into the stories so far of a selection of our 30 Under 30 entries.

Saudi content creators Abdullah and Abdulaziz Bakr, also known as ‘The Saudi Reporters,’ are growing in popularity thanks to their feel-good videos that inspire positivity. Emirati entrepreneur Ali Makki is investing in renewables through his company, Kilimanjaro Energy, uncovering potential from China to Africa. Egyptian Abdelrazek Aly is helping people with sight impairments engage with content through his braille-based tech company, Bonocle.

Lebanese singer Al Walid El Hallani is following in the footsteps of his revered father to find his own voice. And Emirati founder Amira Sajwani is also taking the lessons of her property tycoon father and adding her own spark to digitize real estate.

I hope celebrating such diverse regional talent highlights how much possibility and potential there is across the Middle East. Enjoy the issue, and may it bring you hope for the future.

—Claudine Coletti, Managing Editor

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NOVEMBER 2023

INNOVATING SINCE 2010 NOVEMBER 2023 ISSUE 134

Dr. Nasser Bin Aqeel Al Tayyar President & Publisher nasser@forbesmiddleeast.com

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Khuloud Al Omian

FORBES MIDDLE EAST

Editor-in-Chief Forbes Middle East, CEO - Arab Publisher House

khuloud@forbesmiddleeast.com

Editorial

Business Development

Claudine Coletti Managing Editor claudine@forbesmiddleeast.com

Ruth Pulkury Senior Vice President - Business Development

Laurice Constantine Digital Managing Editor laurice@forbesmiddleeast.com

ruth@forbesmiddleeast.com

Fouzia Azzab Deputy Managing Editor fouzia@forbesmiddleeast.com

Fiona Pereira fiona@forbesmiddleeast.com

Amany Zaher Senior Quality Editor amany@forbesmiddleeast.com

Karl Noujaim karl@forbesmiddleeast.com

Jamila Gandhi Senior Editor jamila@forbesmiddleeast.com

Sarine Nemchehirlian sarine@forbesmiddleeast.com

Rawan Hassan Senior Translator rawan@forbesmiddleeast.com

Sarah Gadallah Hassan sarah.g@forbesmiddleeast.com

Samar Khouri Reporter samar@forbesmiddleeast.com

Upeksha Udayangani Client Relations Executive upeksha@forbesmiddleeast.com

Cherry Aisne Trinidad Senior Online Editor aisne@forbesmiddleeast.com

Tayyab Riaz Mohammed Financial Controller riaz@forbesmiddleeast.com

Research

Jason Lasrado Head of Research jason@forbesmiddleeast.com Nermeen Abbas Senior Researcher nermeen@forbesmiddleeast.com Elena Hayek Researcher elena@forbesmiddleeast.com Layan Abo Shkier Research Reporter layan@forbesmiddleeast.com Soumer Al Daas Head of Creative soumer@forbesmiddleeast.com Julie Gemini Marquez Brand & Creative Content Executive julie@forbesmiddleeast.com Mohammed Ashkar IT Manager ashkar@forbesmiddleeast.com Muhammad Saim Aziz Web Developer saim@forbesmiddleeast.com Habibullah Qadir Senior Operations Manager habib@forbesmiddleeast.com

FORBES US Chairman and Editor-In-Chief Steve Forbes CEO and President Michael Federle

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Sustainability

NATURAL LEADER

Razan Al Mubarak, the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for the COP28 Presidency, is advocating for nature-based solutions to protect the environment and potentially save developing countries at least $104 billion by 2030.

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In January 2023, Al Mubarak was appointed the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for the COP28 Presidency, a role that was first established at COP21 in Paris in 2015.

“It became evident that governmental efforts alone weren’t enough; the collaboration with non-state entities, such as local governments, the business community, civil groups, and indigenous communities, was crucial,” she explains. The new role was born to mobilize these non-state actors, a responsibility Al Mubarak now shares with Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin from Egypt, the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP27.

She now campaigns for nature to be at the core of climate strategies. “Naturebased solutions offer a trio of benefits: they address climate change, safeguard nature and

For over 20 years, Al Mubarak has played a vital role in spearheading environmental protection and species conservation across West Asia and globally.

biodiversity, and fortify communities,” she explains. “They’re essentially a win-win-win strategy.” A 2022 report by the World Wildlife Fund and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies indicated that implementing nature-based solutions could reduce the intensity of climate change and weather-related hazards by 26% and save developing countries $104 billion by 2030 and $393 billion by 2050.

Nature-based solutions protect, rejuvenate, and manage natural and altered ecosystems. For example, mangrove forests sequester carbon and shield around 18 million people from annual flooding. According to the IUCN, mangroves avert $57 billion in flooding damages in China, India, Mexico, the U.S., and Vietnam every year.

“Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, the President-Designate of COP28, and I are jointly advocating for a move towards ‘nature positive for climate NOVEMBER 2023

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n April 2023, a study by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with PwC revealed that approximately 55% of global GDP comes from industries that are either moderately or highly dependent on natural ecosystems, representing at least $58 trillion. As natural ecosystems disappear, these industries are particularly at risk.

For Razan Al Mubarak, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for the COP28 Presidency, the loss of nature is one of the biggest risks the globe faces today.

“Beyond the ecological loss, we’re witnessing increasing extreme weather events like floods and droughts, which have grave implications,” she appeals. “They disrupt supply chains and displace countless individuals from their homes and workplaces. It’s crucial to understand that the prosperity and stability of communities directly correlate with the success of the private sector.”

For over 20 years, Al Mubarak has played a vital role in spearheading environmental protection and species conservation across West Asia and globally. In 2010, she was appointed managing director of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, becoming the youngest person to lead an Abu Dhabi government entity and one of the only women to hold such a position. Under her guidance, the government agreed to double its protected wildlife areas, adopt the region’s first carbon targets, and establish the first environment-focused court.

She was elected President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for a four-year term beginning in September 2021, making her the second woman to lead the organization in its 75-year history and its first president from West Asia.

Al Mubarak is also the founding director of the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, helping to build the organization into one of the world’s most significant philanthropic foundations supporting direct species conservation. Since its inception in 2008, the fund has supported more than 2,600 species conservation projects in over 160 countries, bringing many species back from the brink of extinction.

Sustainability

In The Public Sector

In October, we published a list of Sustainability Leaders in the lead-up to COP28, including these 10 government influencers who are using their roles to encourage positive change.

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sources. “The scale of these opportunities is immense, spanning beyond energy to areas like transportation, agriculture, food, manufacturing, and thermal systems,” she says. “But it’s worth noting that this transformative phase comes with its set of challenges. However, these very challenges can metamorphose into opportunities with the right innovative mindset.”

Ultimately, Al Mubarak appeals for intertwining technological advancements with nature to streamline the green transition while mitigating risks to communities, biodiversity, and the planet. “To truly make an impact, we need a united front,” she emphasizes. “From governments to local communities, businesses, civil groups, and notably, groups often underrepresented like indigenous people, women, and the youth. The vulnerable populations stand to lose the most. It’s high time regional businesses and leaders address these issues head-on for the long-term well-being of both the planet and the economy.”

• Sultan Al Jaber

• Razan Al Mubarak

Country: U.A.E. Designation: COP28 PresidentDesignate, U.A.E. Special Envoy for Climate Change, and Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology

Country: U.A.E. Designation: Managing Director of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD)

• Adel Al-Jubeir Country: Saudi Arabia Designation: Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Climate Envoy

• Abdulrahman AlFadley Country: Saudi Arabia Designation: Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture

• Mariam Almheiri Country: U.A.E. Designation: Minister of Climate Change and Environment

• Yasmine Fouad Country: Egypt Designation: Minister of Environment

• Abdullah Al Amri Country: Oman Designation: Chairman of the Environment Authority

• Mohamed Bin Mubarak Bin Daina Country: Bahrain Designation: Minister of Oil and Environment and Special Envoy for Climate Affairs

• Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi Country: U.A.E. Designation: Minister of State for Foreign Trade

• Faleh Bin Nasser Al Thani Country: Qatar Designation: Minister of Environment and Climate Change NOVEMBER 2023

IMAGE FROM WAM

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action,’” shares Al Mubarak. The duo is urging businesses to adopt a multi-pronged approach that includes ramping up investments in nature-based solutions, fast-tracking climate mitigation, actively combating deforestation, embracing science-based targets, and reporting results transparently.

The global private sector accounts for 40% of climate finance in emerging markets, according to the International Monetary Fund. This must rise to 80% by 2030 to achieve a vital environmental transition.

For Al Mubarak, increased momentum toward sustainability offers a multitude of innovation opportunities.

Emergent green sectors are estimated to contribute $10.3 trillion to the global economy by 2050, equivalent to about 5.2% of global GDP, according to research by Arup and Oxford Economics. Data from the International Energy Agency suggests that renewable electricity capacity could surge by over 60% by 2026 compared to 2020, equaling the combined power capacity of all fossil fuels and nuclear

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BY STEVEN BERTONI . KHABY LAME WEARS HUGO BOSS. PHOTOGRAPH BY DEVIN YALKIN FOR FORBES

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Screen Stealer Streaming comedy sensation Khaby Lame cites reruns of the 1990s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as his showbiz inspiration.

Top Creators

MILLION DOLLAR MIME In just three years, Khaby Lame, with more than 160 million fans, has become the most popular tiktoker in the world—without speaking a single word. Brands are now clamoring to pay the quiet comedian a fortune for a piece of his social media magic.

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MONET MCMICHAEL • Earnings*: $4.1 MILLION

RHETT & LINK • $35 MILLION

The Rutgers Nursing School grad has the prescription for building a loyal fan base. In a business where 2% engagement is impressive, McMichael, a makeup and beauty influencer, regularly interacts with 13% of her more than 5 million followers.

She has used her powers of attraction to score deals with MAC Cosmetics, Fresh Beauty and Bumble.

Best friends since grade school, the two former engineers—real names Rhett James McLaughlin (shown in mirror) and Charles Lincoln “Link” Neal III—began posting comedy shows on YouTube in 2011. Today their Burbank, California, entertainment company, Mythical, employs more than 100 people who create YouTube series like the daily variety show Good Mythical Morning, the Mythical Kitchen cooking series and sketch comedy channel Smosh for their 18 million subscribers.

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habane “Khaby” Lame slinks into a modern mansion, evades armed guards and breaks into a hidden vault loaded with loot.

No, the Italian influencer, the world’s most-followed person on TikTok, hasn’t turned to a life of crime. Lame, who in 2019 was assembling car filters in a factory outside Turin, is now a star character in Fortnite, the blockbuster multiplayer video game with more than 230 million monthly players.

“When I started making videos, people told me to get a proper job,” he says. “But I continued to make videos because that’s what I like doing, even though no one was watching them.”

These days, all eyes are on Khaby Lame. He posts short comedy clips of him spoofing famous memes and mocking elaborate internet stunts, including a chef peeling a banana with fancy knife cuts and a DIY inventor showing off a homemade robot that hands you a piece of toilet paper. Since gaining notice during pandemic lockdowns, Lame’s twominute-long TikToks have attracted 2.4 billion likes and 162 million followers—more than triple the population of his native country. On Instagram, he has 80 million followers.

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STREAMING STUDIO BOSSES

He has amassed this enormous fan base without uttering a single word, communicating instead with animated shrugs and expressive eyes. In doing so, he’s become the Charlie Chaplin of the digital age, the mime of memes whose relatable videos entertain hundreds of millions across languages, borders and cultures.

This year Lame has made TikTok skits with Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise. He’s taken penalty kicks with soccer legend David Beckham and starred in a Super Bowl ad campaign for insurance giant State Farm.

State Farm’s marketing head, Alyson Griffin, says it partnered with Khaby because he was the most popular TikToker in the U.S., was brand safe, whimsical and someone it could work with over the long term to expand its initial investment. “The Super Bowl was watched by 115 million people,” she says. “Our main TikTok video with Khaby got 220 million views, plus all the follows, likes, comments and shares.”

For Lame, silence has been golden. Forbes estimates that since June 2022, he has grossed $16.5 million thanks to deals with companies including Hugo Boss, Binance and Middle East NOVEMBER 2023

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DRUSKI • $10 MILLION

OLIVIA DUNNE • $2.3 MILLION

Drew “Druski” Desbordes has turned his funny internet skits into a media empire. Over the last year, the comedian—who is also an actor and record producer—has been the opener for concerts by musicians J. Cole and Lil Baby, acted in TV series House Party and Praise This and launched a label, Coulda Been Records. Corporate partners include Nike, Google and AT&T. He’s also the pitchman for Happy Dad, a hard seltzer brand that he partly owns.

Dunne, an all-American gymnast at Louisiana State University, is the world’s most-followed college athlete. The New Jersey native has turned her 12 million followers into licensing gold thanks to deals with Motorola, AI assistant Caktus and clothing brands American Eagle and Vuori.

bank QNB—plus his Fortnite and State Farm partnerships.

Today he fetches $750,000 to feature product in a TikTok and Instagram post. The brand must fit his family-friendly image: “I turn down most requests,” he says. “I want to work clean. I’ve never worked with an alcohol company, cigarettes or anything that’s bad for you because a lot of kids follow me.”

Lame ranks 11th on our second annual Top Creators list and is a prime example of the power, and profits, up for grabs in the red-hot influencer economy. To rank the world’s Top Creators, we crunched data on the earnings, follower counts, engagement rates and entrepreneurial activities of thousands of internet personalities with the help of creator marketing firm Influential. Between June 2022 and this June, our 50 leading creators leveraged their combined 2.6 billion social media followers to haul in an estimated $700 million in earnings. That’s a 23% jump from 2022’s $570 million.

This year brands will spend an estimated $21 billion on creator marketing, up from just $1.6 billion seven years ago, according to social media research firm Influencer Marketing Hub. “Influencers are the most powerful and prolific media and commerce vehicle ever invented,” says Erin Lanuti, chief innovation officer at ad titan the Omnicom Group. “They’re more trusted by their audiences than ads. They can sell out

products in minutes. They can cause a flash mob that shuts down a major city. They can build a billion-dollar brand without any other marketing. And they can destroy a billiondollar brand with a post.”

They know their power and are using their clout to spring from social media into other industries. Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson, 25, who holds the top spot on our list for the second year running, has used his 180 million–subscriber YouTube channel to launch a snack bar company called Feastables and a fast food chain, Beast Burger. (Disclosure: Donaldson is slated to become a member of Forbes’ board when a planned sale of the company is completed.) Addison Rae and Bella Thorne have gone from lip syncing on TikTok to scoring major record deals. As for Lame, he’s hoping his star turn in Fortnite is a steppingstone to Hollywood. In June, his documentary short (and directorial debut) I Am Khabane premiered at Italy’s Taormina Film Festival. “I love writing stories and films,” he says. “I want to be an actor— and direct too.”

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*Estimated income between June 2022 and June 2023

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Entertainment

Top Creators of Arab-Origins

Huda Kattan

Adam Waheed

Christina Najjar

Earnings: $13 million

Earnings: $11 million

Earnings: $7.5 million

Total followers: 69 million Rank on the list: 15

Total followers: 38 million Rank on the list: 24

Total followers: 2 million Rank on the list: 26

Kattan’s parents are both Iraqi. She was born and raised in Oklahoma and currently resides in Dubai. Kattan began her career in finance before becoming a makeup artist and launching a blog in 2010. She started her makeup brand, Huda Beauty, with her two sisters, Mona and Alya, in 2013, originally selling false lashes. The make-up brand had over 53.5 million followers on Instagram as of October 2023. In 2020, Kattan expanded into skincare through her brand WISHFUL, which today retails in Sephora and Harrods, and launched the GloWish line of makeup as a sub-brand of Huda Beauty in 2021. Huda Beauty sells more than 140 products, bringing in about $200 million in annual sales.

Kattan was also featured on Forbes’ list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women 2023, with a net worth of $400 million as of June 1, 2023.

American comedian Adam W was born to Egyptian parents in the U.S. His slapstick videos on YouTube have garnered over 10.7 billion views since 2015. He had over 14.2 million subscribers on YouTube and 19.4 million followers on TikTok as of October 2023. His business endorsements include Adobe, Google, Old Spice, Dr Pepper, Doritos, Samsung, and L’Oréal.

In May 2023, he announced a collaboration with Wheelhouse DNA and Frederator Studios for a new animated comedy series. Waheed has established a $15 million earlystage fund to invest in creators and Creator Circle, an educational company that shows content creators how to leverage the power of social media. He has also funded schools in Bali to end poverty through education.

Known as Tinx, Najjar is of Lebanese descent and currently resides in Los Angeles. The Stanford graduate began creating content at the age of 29 during the pandemic. She gave advice about relationships and mental health on TikTok and launched her clothing brand, Rich Mom Gear, in early 2022, which sells embroidered apparel.

Shortly after, she launched her podcast “It’s Me, Tinx,” which aired on SiriusXM and is currently expanding to YouTube.

As of October 13, 2023, she had more than 1.5 million followers and 91.5 million likes on TikTok, over 554,000 followers on Instagram, and 167 episodes. The 33-year-old has been adding to her fortune through business endorsements with Kleenex, Aldo, and others. In 2023, she also published a New York Times best-selling book, The Shift, on how she changed her perspective to live a fulfilling life.

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NOVEMBER 2023

BY MARIAM MOURSI, IMAGES FROM FORBES.COM

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The Forbes Top Creators list 2023 ranked creators based on their gross earnings from June 2022 to June 2023, as well as their followers, engagement, and a one-to-four entrepreneurial scale. These three listees are of Arab descent, with combined earnings of $31.5 million.

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F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

NOVEMBER 2023

30 Under 30

Meet The 7 Billionaires Under 30 The world’s seven billionaires under the age of 30 have a combined fortune of $17.4 billion.

One is a self-made entrepreneur, while the rest inherited their wealth. Here’s a look at the world’s youngest billionaires. Net worths are as of October 10, 2023.

1. Clemente Del Vecchio, 19

EssilorLuxottica’s share price has risen 4% since March 10, 2023, hitting $175.7 on October 10, 2023, bringing its market cap to $79.7 billion.

Clemente, the youngest billionaire in the world, made his debut on Forbes’ annual World’s Billionaires list in 2023.

He inherited his immense wealth from his late father, Leonardo Del Vecchio, who served as the chairman of the eyeglasses giant EssilorLuxottica. He had a net worth of $25.5 billion when he passed away in June 2022. He left behind six children from different relationships and his widow, Nicoletta Zampillo.

All seven heirs became billionaires. Clemente inherited a 12.5% stake in his father’s Luxembourg-based holding company, Delfin. He has added $100 million to his net worth since March 10, 2023.

1. Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, 28

Net worth: $3.6 billion Source of wealth: Eyeglasses Citizenship: Italy

1. Luca Del Vecchio, 22

Net worth: $3.6 billion Source of wealth: Eyeglasses Citizenship: Italy Luca and his brother Clemente are the two children born to the late billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio and Sabina Grossi, who was previously EssilorLuxottica’s head of investor relations and a board member. Luca is not known to have a role at the eyewear company, but Forbes data indicates that his net worth has increased by $100 million since he joined the annual ranking of billionaires in April 2023.

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Net worth: $3.6 billion Source of wealth: Eyeglasses Citizenship: Italy Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio serves as EssilorLuxottica’s chief strategy officer and CEO of eyeglass retailer Salmoiraghi & Viganò, which EssilorLuxottica acquired for an undisclosed amount in 2016. He is also the founder and president of Triple Sea Food. Like his younger brother billionaires, Leonardo Maria joined Forbes’ annual World’s Billionaires list in 2023, with $3.5 billion in inherited net worth from his late father. Leonardo Maria is the sole son of Del Vecchio and his second wife, Nicoletta Zampillo, whom he married in 1997, divorced in 2000, and later remarried in 2010.

4. Kevin David Lehman, 21

Net worth: $2.5 billion Source of wealth: Drugstores Citizenship: Germany Lehmann owns half of dm (drogerie markt), a leading drugstore chain in Germany. dm generated roughly $13.3 billion in turnover in Europe in the financial year 2021/22, which ended in September 2022. The company was founded in 1973 by Götz W.

Ryan Breslow

Werner. Lehmann’s father, Guenther, who was managing his family’s Pfannkuch grocery chain at the time, invested in dm a year after it was founded. Guenther transferred ownership of his 50% dm stake to his son in 2017, who became the youngest billionaire on the plant at the age of 18 on the 2021 World’s Billionaires list, with $3.3 billion in net worth.

5. Alexandra Andresen, 27

Net worth: $1.5 billion Source of wealth: Investments Citizenship: Norway Andresen made her debut on Forbes’ World’s Billionaires list as the world’s youngest billionaire in 2016, with a $1.2 billion net worth at the age of 19. She now owns 42% of the family-owned investment company Ferd. Her father, Johan, has served as the company’s chair since 2012, with Alexandra and her elder sister, Katharina, serving as members of the board since 2023. Andresen is a three-time junior Norwegian champion in dressage.

5. Katharina Andresen, 28

Net worth: $1.5 billion Source of wealth: Investments Citizenship: Norway

Andresen inherited 42% of Ferd and appeared on the Forbes Billionaires list in 2016 at the age of 20. Since then, she has added $300 million to her net worth. The family business Ferd runs hedge funds, is an active investor on the Nordic stock exchange and has private equity investments. Ferd’s valueadjusted equity at the end of 2022 hit $4.4 billion.

7. Ryan Breslow, 29 Net worth: $1.1 billion Source of wealth: E-commerce software Citizenship: U.S.

Breslow, the youngest selfmade billionaire, cofounded Bolt with Eric Feldman in 2014 after they dropped out of Stanford University.

They developed software that provides both small and middle-sized businesses with a smooth “Amazon-like” checkout system. Breslow appeared on the Forbes World’s Billionaires list in 2022 after amassing $2 billion in net worth. He is now the chairman of Bolt, which raised $355 million as part of Series E funding in January 2022, taking the total funding to nearly $1 billion. Ryan is also the founder and CEO of Love.com, a marketplace for conscious shopping.

NOVEMBER 2023

BY HAGAR OMRAN, AARON KOTOWSKI FOR FORBES

LEADERBOARD

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F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

NOVEMBER 2023

30 Under 30

5 Standout Middle East 30 Under 30 Alumni Of the 150 remarkable young listees previously featured across the last five editions of Forbes Middle East’s 30 Under 30 list, here are five alumni who have gone on to make outstanding contributions to their fields. The ages given are as of October 2023.

Mohamed Salah, 31

Mostafa Menessy; Islam Shawky; Alain El Hajj

Nationality: Egyptian Occupation: Soccer player

In 2018, when the then 25-yearold Salah made the Forbes Middle East’s 30 Under 30 list, he won his first Premier League Golden Boot award and was named the Premier League’s player of the season.

He has since won the Golden Boot award twice more, become Liverpool FC’s all-time Premier League goal scorer, and became the world’s fifth highest-paid soccer player in 2023 with $53 million in total earnings, according to Forbes.

Salah also helped Liverpool end a 30-year wait to be crowned domestic champions in 2020 after winning the Premier League title. In 2022, he played a significant role in helping Egypt reach the Africa Cup of Nations final.

Ons Jabeur, 29

Nationality: Tunisian Occupation: Tennis player Jabeur featured on the 30 Under 30 list in 2021, aged 26, when she won her first WTA singles title in Birmingham and became the highest-ranked Tunisian player ever at No.21 globally. Her world ranking reached its highest at No.2 in June 2022, and she became the first Arab and African woman to win a WTA 1000 event. In the same year, the Tunisian star ranked as the 15th highestpaid female athlete in the world with pretax and agents’ fees earnings totaling $6.5 million, according to Forbes.

Her impressive track record includes five WTA Tour wins and appearances in three of the last five Grand Slam finals.

In 2023, she was featured in F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

30 list in 2021 when the startup secured $18.5 million in its Series A round and enabled more than 45,000 merchants with POS devices. A year later, the fintech company secured $50 million in Series B funding, bringing its total funding to $68.5 million to become the 10th most-funded startup in MENA in 2022. Today, Paymob, which was founded in 2015, enables merchants to accept digital payments in Egypt, Pakistan, the U.A.E., and Oman. It serves over 170,000 businesses and enabled 18 million mobile wallet users on its infrastructure railways as of April 2023. In 2023, Paymob signed the MENA FinTech Association’s Sustainable Fintech Pledge, which aims to integrate sustainability principles into business practices.

Noor Naem, 26

the Netflix documentary series “Break Point.” In August 2023, the Tunisian tennis star bought a small stake in the NWSL’s North Carolina Courage. As of October 2023, she was the No.7 top women’s tennis player in the world.

Balqees Fathi, 35 Nationality: Emirati Occupation: Singer

Balqees’ career began with duets with her father, Yemeni singer Ahmed Fathi. She first appeared on the 30 Under 30 list in 2018. In 2020, she founded her own makeup brand, BEX Beauty. She collaborated with three other female singers on the official soundtrack of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, “Light The Sky.” In 2023, the star was

appointed as an ambassador for UNICEF. Balqees had over 22 million followers on Instagram, Facebook, X, and YouTube as of October 2023. She also has over 4.2 million followers on Anghami, with more than 132.4 million plays and more than 386,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

Her latest song, “Alf Rooh,” attracted over 8.8 million views on YouTube in three months.

Mostafa Menessy; Alain El Hajj; Islam Shawky, 30;31;32

Nationality: Egyptian Occupation: Cofounders of Paymob The cofounders of Paymob earned a spot on the 30 Under

Nationality: Iraqi Occupation: YouTuber/ Influencer Naem is a popular Arab YouTuber, singer, and podcaster. She appeared on the 30 Under 30 list in 2020.

At that time, her YouTube channel, Noor Stars, had 16.4 million subscribers, and her Instagram account had 8.2 million followers. Today, she has 14.2 million followers on Instagram, and she is the fourth most popular Arab YouTuber, with 20.4 million subscribers as of October 2023. Naem also sings, and in January 2023, she launched her “Stars Podcast,” which has since garnered over 21 million views on YouTube.

She has collaborated with fashion and makeup brands like SHEIN, American Eagle, M.A.C., and Maybelline.

NOVEMBER 2023

BY ENGY ABDAL MONEM, IMAGE FROM SOURCE

LEADERBOARD

22

• THOUGHT LEADERS •

By Hatem Dowidar, Group CEO at e&

Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges facing humanity today, and the Middle East is highly vulnerable. In addition to triggering rising temperatures, water scarcity, and extreme weather events across the region, the climate crisis is expected to negatively impact Middle Eastern economies and societies too.

But there is hope. According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a rapid transition to clean energy technologies can help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90% by 2050, and the Middle East is already making a difference. By focusing on innovation, investing in renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, supporting climate change research, and protecting natural ecosystems, the region is helping to build a more sustainable future for its people and for the world.

In fact, with the resources and expertise in place, countries across the region have the opportunity to play a leading role in addressing the global issue of climate change. The U.A.E. is a great example, with its goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and its commitment to investing in renewable energy, sustainable transportation, and carbon capture.

To succeed in the fight against climate change, it is imperative that the public and private sectors work together. The private sector plays a key role by driving a culture change as well as developing and deploying sustainability solutions. Meanwhile, public sector initiatives towards building smart grids and smart meters have been crucial in the U.A.E.’s efforts to modernize and improve the efficiency of its electric grid. They provide realtime data and control capabilities that help forecast and manage electricity consumption, leading to a more reliable, efficient, and sustainable energy system.

For example, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s smart meters are used to forecast demand and identify areas where energy is being wasted. Similarly, the Abu Dhabi Distribution Company is using data to develop a smart grid that will improve the efficiency and reliability of the electricity supply in Abu Dhabi.

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Many technology companies are coming together to reduce carbon emissions across their operations and accelerating their efforts to contribute to global climate action. They are focusing on key initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint through improving energy efficiency and sourcing renewable energy, among other initiatives. It’s important to set out a clear net zero carbon emissions roadmap to advance its sustainability initiatives that have a positive human impact on future plans and operations.

There are also community initiatives that reaffirm their dedication to making a positive global impact by prioritizing digital inclusion to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. For example, initiatives like the Edison Alliance, affiliated with the World Economic Forum, where companies are committed to community well-being and make a pledge to make a difference to millions of lives. This commitment can entail improving connectivity, offering digital services, and providing technology education.

Also, global organizations like Code.org aim to promote computer science and software education globally. This not only strengthens the role of technology in educational curriculum but also presents an opportunity for collaboration with partners to invest in future technologies, fostering innovative solutions that advance the educational sector. Inclusivity and diversity principles are also integral to empowering women to achieve gender balance across markets.

These are just a few examples of the ways in which the public and private sectors can work together, and with COP28 taking place in the U.A.E., now is the time for stakeholders to make progress on key climate change issues to make a positive impact in people’s lives.

The U.A.E Minister of Climate Change and Environment, H.E. Maryam Al Mheiri, recently spoke of climate change as not just a physical concern but a knowledge transition for the next generation. We all have a responsibility to educate and inform ourselves and others about building a sustainable environment, and we have the resources, expertise, and reach to make a difference.

All thoughts expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author.

NOVEMBER 2023

23 THOUGHT LEADERS

Public And Private Sectors Must Work Together To Fight Climate Change

Meet the Forbes 30 Under 30 2023 Honorees With Arab Roots LEADERBOARD

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The innovators on the Forbes 30 Under 30 2023 list have collectively raised more than $ 5.3 billion in funding, with 23% identifying as immigrants. Here are some notable Forbes 30 Under 30 North America 2023 honorees with Arab Roots. Ages are as of December 2022.

Ahmed El Dani, 28

Country of origin: Kuwait Category: Marketing & Advertising Having emigrated from Kuwait to Canada, El Dani has since launched three ventures. He started Carte Blanche Studio, a Toronto-based advertising and creative agency, in 2019.

The company has worked with brands such as Nike and Four Seasons Hotels and is expecting to hit $3.5 million in revenue this year, according to Forbes. The young entrepreneur also cofounded La Mémoire, a Luxury home fragrance brand, in 2022, and he is the founder and CEO of The Boring Incubator, a web3 startup accelerator he established in 2023.

Mike Berro, 26

Country of origin: Lebanon Category: Marketing & Advertising Berro’s parents are from Lebanon, and he was born and raised in Dearborn in the U.S. Berro is the CEO and founder of Michiganbased Qonkur Media, a multimedia marketing agency that works in 10 U.S. states and has grown its combined revenues by nearly 17,318% (year to date) since 2018. The company has about 60 employees and expects to hit $16 million in revenue this year, according to Forbes. He also founded the creative services provider Orreb in 2022.

Yara Bishara, 29

Country of origin: Palestine Category: Media Bishara is a senior marketing and DTC manager at Premium Guard Inc. (PGI). The George Washington University graduate F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

began her career at The New York Times as a video journalist before joining the New Yorker, where she produced the magazine’s most-watched video at the time, which reached 10 million views on YouTube and helped to double the magazine’s YouTube subscribership in two years, according to Forbes. Most recently, Bishara was a senior producer at NBC News, overseeing a team of video journalists producing 30-minute documentaries.

Rana Abdelhamid, 29

channel back in 2011 at the age of 14, according to Forbes, and worked with its team to create the business that it is today. The company went public in July 2022 through a $725 million SPAC merger.

Abdelfattah is from California and was born to immigrant Palestinian parents.

Layla Mustafa, 28 Country of origin: Sudan Category: Music Mustafa is the director of global brand partnerships at RCA Records, overseeing the label’s roster of over 200 artists and executing over 150 deals, according to Forbes. Mustafa has led campaigns for artists such as Lucky Daye, Latto, Fousheé, and Khalid. The brand specialist has worked with Lyft, Burberry, Sony Electronic, Facebook’s Meta Quest, BACARDÍ, Shea Moisture, Calvin Klein, Alpha Industries, Apple Music, and Spotify.

Rakan Al-Shawaf, 26

Country of origin: Egypt Category: Social Impact

Country of origin: Syria Category: Retail & Ecommerce

Abdelhamid is an Egyptian living in Queens, New York. She is a self-defense instructor and the founder and executive director of a non-profit organization, Malikah, which has trained thousands of women around the world in self-defense, anti-hate crime advocacy, and emotional healing work.

Her entrepreneurial journey started with her own personal experience with racism, according to Forbes. She plans to build the first women’s center in Astoria, Queens, to serve survivors of domestic violence and provide affordable housing for immigrant women. She is one of the youngest serving board members of Amnesty International U.S. and has received both a NYC Council Proclamation and an International Youth Advocate award from the UNA-USA foundation.

Al-Shawaf is the CEO and cofounder of Makeship, a Canadian crowdfunding platform founded in 2018 for content creators, aiming to help small and medium-sized influencers create plushies and other merchandise to sell to their fans. Makeship, which gives influencers a cut of sales, was reported to have revenues of $16 million in 2022, according to Forbes. Focusing on sustainability, the company offsets Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions by looking at the raw materials and carbon dioxide emissions generated by manufacturing and transporting products.

Yousef Abdelfattah, 26

Country of origin: Palestine Category: Games

Abdelfattah, known as FaZe Apex, is one of the cofounders of the esports and media organization FaZe Clan. He joined the FaZe original YouTube

Ali Hassan, 26

Country of origin: Jordan Category: Games Ali Hassan and his wife and business partner, Daniela Ali, are firstgeneration Americans who cofounded Oni Studios, an Austin-based esports platform for nurturing new media talent and establishing partnerships with brands and creators. Ali “SypherPK” Hassan is one of the world’s top gaming content creators and is famous for his work with Fortnite. He has 20 million NOVEMBER 2023

BY RAWAN HASSAN , IMAGES FROM FORBES.COM

30 Under 30

Lolo Zouaï, 27 Country of origin: Algeria Category: Music Zouaï, widely recognized as Lolo Zouaï, is a rising pop and R&B sensation and model born to a French mother and an Algerian father in Paris. The family moved to San Francisco when she was three months old. Zouaï intertwines English, French, and Arabic in her viral single “Desert Rose.” Zouaï contributed to H.E.R.’s Grammy-winning album by co-writing the track “Still Down.” She has collaborated with Dev Hynes and Dua Lipa and worked with Dior, Coach, and Tommy Hilfiger. In October 2022, Zouaï released her album PLAYGIRL. In September 2023, she released her EP Encore+VVVIP.

Ahmed Elsayyad, 29

BY ASHRAQAT OSAMA , IMAGES FROM FORBES.COM

Country of origin: Egypt Category: Healthcare

Elsayyad cofounded Ostro in 2019, a venture-backed startup whose software connects consumers with doctors through customized apps and websites in collaboration with its pharmaceutical company customers.

Ostro has worked with various companies, including Google, Amazon, Veeva, Black Stone, McKinsey & Company, and Johns Hopkins Medicine. According to Forbes, Ostro has raised $56 million from investors, including Founders Fund, Greycroft, and Bling Capital.

AstraZeneca and Bausch Health are among its enterprise customers.

Considered an early-stage investor and advisor, Elsayyad has helped push various technology startups such as Pangaea and Rosemary Health, among others.

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

30 Under 30

Snapshot: Arab Youth’s Entrepreneurial Spirit In a rapidly changing world, Arab youth are poised to become the driving force of innovation and economic growth in MENA. We explore the evolving trends shaping their professional landscape.

More than 42% of young Arab men and women have expressed a strong desire to start their own businesses in the next five years, according to the 15th annual ASDA’A BCW Arab Youth Survey 2023. This entrepreneurial drive is strongest among the GCC youth, with 53% indicating their intent to embark on this journey, followed by those in the Levant (39%) and North Africa (37%).

The Gulf region also stood out for its optimism regarding entrepreneurship, with 58% of its youth considering it is easy to start a business in their countries. In contrast, 79% of youth in the Levant and 73% in North Africa viewed entrepreneurship as “very difficult or somewhat difficult.” The Arab youth identified some incentives that could support entrepreneurship, such as tax breaks, reduced startup fees, enhanced training and education, and governmentbacked loans, among others.

The technology sector emerges as the top choice among Arab youth with entrepreneurial aspirations, named by 15% of respondents, followed closely by e-commerce at 13%. Other sectors included the creative industries (11%), manufacturing (11%), real estate (10%), food business (9%), freelancing (8%), and retail, hospitality, and education (7% each).

Citing their top three concerns—rising living costs, unemployment, and the state of their national economy—over half of young Arabs outside the GCC said it would be difficult to find a job in their country, compared to 20% of young Arabs in the GCC. Nearly half of respondents from North Africa and the Levant say they struggle to meet their daily living expenses compared to 15% of those in the GCC. Arab youth are also increasingly shifting their employment preferences towards the private sector in contrast to previous years, where government jobs held greater appeal. Only 30% of respondents now prefer government employment. A substantial 33% now aspire to work in the private sector, reflecting a 13% increase compared to 2022.

A recent survey by PwC Middle East showed that 61% of Emirati graduates surveyed are interested in joining the U.A.E.’s private sector, but 62% believe it is

harder to secure employment in the private sector, while 20% of Emirati private sector employees express dissatisfaction with their compensation compared to those in the public sector.

Arab youth are already thinking about their professional futures, with 72% in the U.A.E. having a clear idea of their job aspirations while still in high school, with business being the top choice for most of the students (21%), followed by healthcare (20%) and engineering (12%), according to a 2023 report by KPMG Lower Gulf with the support of GEMS Education.

Across the GCC and beyond, nations are embracing large-scale nationalization initiatives. Their primary goal is to increase the involvement of their citizens in the job market, with a specific focus on the private sector.

The U.A.E. government, for instance, has set an ambitious target of integrating 75,000 Emiratis into the private sector by 2026.

In addition, Saudization efforts have been implemented through the Nitaqat program, and two other initiatives, Hafiz and Labor Market Observatory, which aims to help Saudi Arabia’s government create 3.5 million jobs for Saudis by 2025. Kuwait also aims to create 503,000 jobs in the private sector by 2035, with 230,000 of which for Kuwaitis.

Youth’s Top Business Startup Preferences Sector

Percentage

Technology

15%

E-Commerce

13%

Creative Industries

11%

Manufacturing

11%

Real Estate

10%

Food Business

9%

Freelancing

8%

Education

7%

Hospitality

7%

Retail

7%

Source: ASDA’A BCW Arab Youth Survey 2023.

NOVEMBER 2023

25 LEADERBOARD

followers across his platforms, according to Forbes. A previous 30 Under 30 listee, Daniela Ali, grew Oni Studios from a team of five with two channels into a company with $12 million in 2022 revenue and over 50 employees. Daniela serves as manager and CEO, while the company is entirely self-funded by Ali’s content fortune. In 2023, they founded a subsidiary game development arm, SuperJoy Studios.

PRO M OTI O N

Empowering People, Protecting The Planet 26

Mastercard is building a sustainable and more equitable world – while delivering business results. as Mastercard, we consider the enormous scope and connection of our global network.”

Indeed, Mastercard’s reach is great. With a sprawling network of partners and merchants, the company serves three billion cardholders worldwide.

“ T

hink tech companies, and the words ‘sustainability’ and ‘climate change’ are unlikely to spring to mind, but in the case of Mastercard, protecting the planet is a driving force behind its corporate mission. From planting trees and pushing for net zero to launching products that support consumers in their own sustainability efforts, the global payments processing giant is delivering a masterclass on how big business can deliver big results that reach far beyond the bottom line.

Khalid Elgibali, President of the MENA division at Mastercard, is the first to admit that tech firms are not the obvious champions of sustainability, but for him, focusing on the nature of a business misses the point. “The key for any company in any industry is understanding its influence and where it can have the biggest impact,” he asserts.

“When we think about our role

“

Khalid Elgibali, President of the MENA division at Mastercard

When we think about our role as Mastercard, we consider the enormous scope and connection of our global network.

For Elgibali, network and collaboration are key, both in the quest for business growth and the race to save the planet.

Highlighting climate change as one of the biggest challenges of our time, Mastercard’s regional president emphasizes the importance of working together.

“Our biggest strength lies in our numbers and the power of collective action. When we partner and collaborate, we can all be a force for good,” he says.

His words are more than PR spin. Recognizing the power of partnership, Mastercard formed the Priceless Planet Coalition in 2020, a movement that unites the efforts of public and private stakeholders to fight climate change by restoring 100 million trees over the next five years.

The thoughts expressed in this advertorial are those of the client.

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

More than 100 partners have joined the coalition so far, including Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank, and Network International in the U.A.E. The company is looking inward at its own operations too. Alongside other industry leaders across sectors, Mastercard has committed to net zero by 2040, a goal that requires continuous review of every part of its business and the practices of its suppliers. Then there are products to consider. Billions of cardholders means billions of plastic cards, and it is an issue that Mastercard is tackling through innovation.

In a first move for a payment network, all newly produced Mastercard plastic payment cards will be made from recycled or biosourced plastics and approved through a certification program, from 2028 onwards. The company has also created a ‘sustainable cards directory’ – a toolkit for issuers to transition to planet-friendly materials.

In the Middle East, organizations like the National Bank of Bahrain and Citi have already committed to issuing cards made from sustainable materials that aim to eliminate first-use PVC plastics. Meanwhile, in response to growing consumer interest in sustainability, Mastercard has launched the Carbon Calculator, which enables people to track their carbon footprint and better understand the environmental impact of their purchases.

NOVEMBER 2023

PRO M OTI O N Scan this QR code to open the website

STEM fields. Since the program’s launch in 2014, the company has reached 3.6 million girls worldwide.

Mastercard’s own corporate culture also reflects its belief in the importance of equality. At the firm, women and men are paid the same for the same job, and parental leave policies are standardized.

The company has also signed the U.A.E. Gender Balance Council Pledge to meaningfully advance gender balance, and has agreed to pursue ambitious targets to increase women’s representation in senior and middle management roles before 2025.

As Elgibali puts it, the only sustainable growth is inclusive growth, and the mantra is applied both in-house and out on the streets. At Mastercard, employee compensation is tied to collective progress towards achieving environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals, while the company has committed to connecting one billion people globally and 50 million SMEs to the digital economy by 2025.

Already, Mastercard has reached 25 million women entrepreneurs, supporting them with digital tools

“

Inclusion and diversity in all forms make us stronger as a team and as a business.

to help them thrive. The company is also helping to create one million jobs for women across MENA through a recent partnership with Women Choice that saw the launch of the Social Innovation Incubator (SII) For Women’s Employment.

For Elgibali, the pursuit of diversity, equity, and inclusion is a no-brainer.

“All three make us better and help us to innovate and grow in new ways,” asserts the regional division president. “By making sure we design a balanced world with women in mind, and more women involved, we are giving ourselves the opportunity to benefit from a wealth of diverse perspectives and harness a wider range of skills and experiences for greater innovation and impact.”

That is important for all sectors, including tech. Mastercard’s Girls4Tech program inspires young girls to build STEM skills such as encryption, data analysis, and fraud detection, and consider careers in

The thoughts expressed in this advertorial are those of the client.

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

“

It is here, where people and payments meet, that Mastercard’s overarching ambition comes to the fore: powering economies and empowering people. For the company’s MENA head, while that might sound simple, getting it done is a complex challenge. “We must commit, prioritize, learn, and optimize every action – because every action we take has an impact,” he explains. “We are tirelessly working towards this core goal, building on an understanding that inclusion and diversity in all forms make us stronger as a team and as a business.”

Beyond gender, Mastercard’s commitment to inclusion extends to underserved communities with specific needs not typically catered to by the market. For instance, the company has launched the worldfirst Touch Card, an accessible payment card to allow blind and partially sighted people to make payments more easily and distinguish between their cards. Ajman Bank was the first to launch the initiative designed to expand access to the digital economy.

From boosting inclusion to protecting the environment, Mastercard is demonstrating that building a sustainable future does not come at the expense of business growth – quite the opposite. “You will often hear us talking about ‘doing well by doing good”, says Elgibali, “That is because making a meaningful impact is crucial – for people, for the planet, and for business.”

www.mastercard.com

NOVEMBER 2023

27

PRO M OTI O N

Committed to protecting the planet, Mastercard continues to blaze new trails in the world of payments – this time with the introduction of a global program to recycle and dispose of plastic cards.

A

modern payment card is a slither of plastic built to power transactions securely.

From protective microchips and holograms to contactless-enabling antennas, decades of innovation are packed into a card that is ultrathin – 0.762 millimeters to be precise.

Yet, while related technology has evolved, the plastics used by the industry have changed little since the 1960s. In fact, most of the 25 billion cards in circulation worldwide are made of first-use plastics, like polyvinyl chloride (PVC), that don’t naturally decompose. In response, spurred by the urgent need for a sustainable solution, Mastercard is on a mission to catapult this payment staple well and truly into the 21st century.

In 2018, the payment processing multinational recognized an opportunity to revolutionize how the industry produces and disposes of cards and better protect our people and planet. It knew it would require a collaborative effort but was prepared to lead from the front. So, it launched Mastercard’s Sustainable Cards Program.

Turning Ambition Into Action Over the last five years, the Sustainable Cards Program has made significant strides. Led by Mastercard’s specialized DigiSec lab in the north of England, it has been exploring ways to develop more sustainable cards by scrutinizing their physical and chemical makeup.

The amount of energy, waste, and carbon emissions involved in card

The thoughts expressed in this advertorial are those of the client.

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

manufacturing has also been taken into account. Those that meet the program’s stringent standards for a sustainable card earn the badge of approval.

To date, the Sustainable Cards Program has resulted in 343 million Mastercard cards being made from approved recycled, recyclable, and bio-sourced materials, including recycled ocean plastic or bioplastics made from sugar or corn.

These cards have been issued by more than 473 financial institutions in 94 countries, and the uptake of sustainable cards in such a short period of time has been exceptional.

Building on this early success, Mastercard has upped its efforts even further this year. In April, it made the decision to require all new payment cards issued on its network to be made from sustainable materials from January 2028, with approved materials including recycled or bio-sourced plastics such as rPVC, rPET, or PLA. Recognizing the scale of this change, Mastercard is committed to supporting all its global issuing partners in their transition away from virgin PVC.

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Mastercard is calling on all card issuers to take the next step by working with it to provide recycling for existing first-use plastic cards.

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The Time Has Come To Tackle First-Use Plastic Cards

NOVEMBER 2023

PRO M OTI O N Scan this QR code to open the website

working with it to provide recycling for existing first-use plastic cards.

Mastercard’s offer to card issuers includes the provision of expertise and the option to connect them with an approved recycling partner to implement programs of their own, maximizing impact with minimal cost and effort.

“

The Sustainable Cards Program has resulted in 343 million Mastercard cards being made from approved recycled, recyclable, and bio-sourced materials.

“

Shredding A Myth About Recycling Improving the sustainable credentials of new cards has been a major challenge, but Mastercard has been relentless in its efforts to reduce its environmental impact.

From the outset, the global payments business dreamt of a future in which all its cardholders could easily and safely recycle their cards, whether at their bank, a corner store, or municipal recycling center to make a small but incrementally meaningful impact on the global problem of plastic pollution. Doing this for every card in circulation around the world, would recycle an estimated 125,000 tons of plastic – the equivalent of 12.5 Eiffel Towers.

Towards realizing this ambition, Mastercard recently announced a

brand-new and globally replicable blueprint for card recycling that includes collection, transportation, and recycling. Already, the plan has been rolled out in the U.K., enabling cardholders to drop off any expired card – not just those branded Mastercard – into a secure, dedicated collection box located in their local bank branch, starting in select HSBC branches.

The cards are shredded inside the secure collection box, ensuring no card information can be stolen and that the built-in chip is destroyed. The shredded waste is then shipped to a specialist recycling partner where it is separated and the plastic reformed into pellets and powders to be reused for other products.

Now, Mastercard is calling on all card issuers to take the next step by

The thoughts expressed in this advertorial are those of the client.

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

An All-Encompassing Approach Across its entire business, Mastercard has taken a hard look at how it can help combat climate change and has devised a number of actionable strategies as a result. Among them is the Digital First card program, which enables cardholders to opt out of a physical card entirely and promises to play an ever more important role as the secular shift to digital payments continues.

From reducing its own carbon footprint with a commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2040 to restoring 100 million trees through the Priceless Planet Coalition and enabling consumers to make more informed spending decisions using its Carbon Calculator, Mastercard is committed to doing all it can to contribute to a better tomorrow for the planet.

Propelling the payment card into a more sustainable future is the next — and necessary — step.

www.mastercard.com NOVEMBER 2023

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The Forbes THE FORBES 400

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(Clockwise from left) Jensen Huang, Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Mark Cuban, George Lucas, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Melinda French Gates

400

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

NOVEMBER 2023

AMERICA’S SUPERRICH ARE RIDING HIGH AGAIN. After losing a collective $500 billion last year, the nation’s 400 wealthiest people have gained it all back. This elite set is now worth $4.5 trillion in aggregate, tying a record set in 2021, and it takes $2.9 billion to make The Forbes 400, another tied record. More than half the gains came from rebounding technology stocks.

Just four tech moguls—Ellison, Zuckerberg, Huang and Dell—account for 30% of the entire list’s jump. One name you won’t see: Donald Trump. The ex-president’s fortune fell 19% to $2.6 billion.

ILLUSTRATION BY JOE MORSE FOR FORBES

THE FORBES 400

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THE LIST THE RICHEST PEOPLE IN AMERICA

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

NOVEMBER 2023

Berkshire Hathaway at alltime highs. Buoyed by a big bet on Apple, which now makes up more than half of Berkshire’s equity portfolio, the stock is up 32% since last year’s ranking. That has helped make Buffett, whose $55 billion in lifetime giving makes him the most charitable American of all time, $24 billion richer despite his donation of a further $4.6 billion to the Gates Foundation and other charities this summer.

5. LARRY PAGE

32 THE FORBES 400

$114 billion  • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Google AGE: 50 • RESIDENCE: Palo Alto, CA PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥ Google’s 25th anniversary year was a lucrative one for its cofounder and former CEO, who is $21 billion richer this year thanks to a 26% jump in the shares of Google parent company Alphabet.

In May, the low-profile Page attracted some unwanted attention, joining fellow cofounder Sergey Brin (No. 7) as the target of subpoenas from the U.S. Virgin Islands over an alleged connection with Jeffrey Epstein, about which they have not commented.

6. BILL GATES

$111 billion  • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Microsoft AGE: 67 • RESIDENCE: Medina, WA PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥♥♥♥

Larry Ellison

$251 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Tesla, SpaceX AGE: 52 • RESIDENCE: Austin, TX PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥ Far and away the richest person in America—and the world—for the second year in a row, Musk has spent much of the past 12 months picking fights.

His targets have included Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky (over his proposed peace plan to end the war with Russia) and the foreign minister of Taiwan (over whether the territory should be considered part of China). He challenged Mark Zuckerberg (No. 8) to a cage match in June, two weeks before Zuck debuted Threads, Meta’s answer to Musk’s X (né Twitter). In September, Walter Isaacson’s bombshell biography of the mercurial mogul revealed fresh details on Musk’s involvement in the war in Ukraine, as well as the existence of a third child with his on-and-off partner, musician Grimes. That makes 11 kids in all. Despite the noise and an 8% drop in Tesla stock, Musk is just as wealthy as he was last year, after SpaceX hit a $150 billion valuation in a June tender offer and he got a fresh set of Tesla stock options, worth $5.7 billion, in January.

2. JEFF BEZOS

carved onto the prow of his new 417-foot sailing yacht, Koru. Amazon’s share price is rebounding, thanks in part to higher profits and layoffs amid cost-cutting measures. The stock rally pushed Bezos’ net worth up $10 billion from a year ago, despite his giving away stock worth $700 million, mainly to combat homelessness and climate change. Most recently, he pledged $100 million to wildfire relief related efforts in Maui, where he owns a home.

3. LARRY ELLISON

In absolute terms, no one in America has gotten richer this year than Ellison, who is $57 billion better off largely thanks to the generative AI craze helping pump up shares of his software firm, Oracle.

In June, Ellison—the company’s cofounder, chief technology officer and 40% shareholder— took the opportunity to cash out $640 million (pretax) worth of stock options, the first time he has sold shares in two years. His $1 billion 2022 investment in Musk’s X, however, isn’t faring so well. The social media giant is worth an estimated two-thirds less than when Musk took it over last October.

4. WARREN BUFFETT

$161 billion  • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Amazon AGE: 59 • RESIDENCE: Medina, WA PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥ In May, the Amazon founder and executive chair reportedly got engaged to Lauren Sánchez, a former L.A. TV anchor whose apparent likeness he had

$121 billion  • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Berkshire Hathaway AGE: 93 • RESIDENCE: Omaha, NE PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥♥♥♥ It was a happy birthday for the investing legend, who rang in his 93rd in late August with shares of

CHANGE IN WEALTH KEY: UP DOWN  UNCHANGED SIGNATORY OF THE GIVING PLEDGE:

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

7. SERGEY BRIN

$158 billion  • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Oracle AGE: 79 • RESIDENCE: Woodside, CA PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥

NEW TO LIST

RETURNEE

$110 billion  • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Google AGE: 50 • RESIDENCE: Los Altos, CA PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥ Like Gates, Brin is turning his focus to artificial intelligence. The Google cofounder, who stepped down as president of parent company Alphabet in 2019 but remains on the board, has returned to the tech giant in his most hands-on role in years, working on Google’s AI efforts. Alphabet shares have jumped 27% since Google announced its suite of AI tools in May.

8. MARK ZUCKERBERG

$106 billion  • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Facebook AGE: 39 • RESIDENCE: Palo Alto, CA PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥ After a terrible 2022 for Facebook parent Meta— with a collapsing share price, crumbling profits and significant fourth-quarter layoffs—the stock has done a U-turn that boosted Zuckerberg’s fortune by $48.3 billion this year.

SPLIT FAMILY FORTUNE

WEALTH INHERITED VS. SELF-MADE SCORE:

PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥—♥♥♥♥♥

NOVEMBER 2023

LARRY ELLISON BY JAMEL TOPPIN FOR FORBES

1. ELON MUSK

The Microsoft cofounder is all-in on AI, penning a letter in March calling the technology “as revolutionary as mobile phones and the internet.”

In June, Gates joined a $1.3 billion funding round for AI chatbot startup Inflection.ai. He personally invested alongside Microsoft, which has been benefiting from its own early bets on artificial intelligence, including an estimated 49% stake in ChatGPT developer OpenAI. Shareholders are bullish, too, driving up Microsoft stock 31% over the past year. Gates became a first-time grandfather in March.

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THE ULTIMATE LUXURY ESCAPE North Island was created with the mission of demonstrating that luxury with a conscience can coexist. North Island, a Luxury Collection Resort, has been expertly designed with pioneering conservation programs to offer the highest standards of hospitality. The island is situated 30 km from the mainland and can only be reached via boat or helicopter. The offering includes 11 private villas, a bar and lounge with ocean views, a sunset bar, in-villa dining experiences, a spa with bespoke treatments, a diving centre and much more.

Aside from the island’s breathtakingly setting and discreet service, the destination offers an intimate escape from the modern world. Whether it be private picnics on the beach or transforming the villa’s outdoor area into a home cinema, the North Island team thrives in creating special moments and their approach to service is so unobtrusive, that guests can feel as though they have the entire island to themselves.

North Island’s various dining venues offer menus that change daily according to the latest island harvest. As part of a culinary concept, Michelinstar chef Akira Back, brings his fine dining to the Piazza Bar & Lounge at North Island.

V IS IT N O RT H-IS L A N D.CO M

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

NOVEMBER 2023

11. MICHAEL DELL

Long removed from the corner office at Microsoft, which he ran from 2000 to 2014, Ballmer mostly has basketball on the brain these days. He’s building— and privately funding—a superluxe $2 billion stadium for his Los Angeles Clippers, outfitting it with a 38,000-square-foot scoreboard and a players’ swimming pool and fretting over details as small as whether the home lockers should have space for 20 pairs of sneakers or 40. “This stuff is all fun,” he told Forbes earlier this year. “And I don’t have a bunch of shareholders to worry about.”

Shares of Dell Technologies are up 87% since last year, largely thanks to an insatiable demand for servers from AI companies and possible inclusion in the S&P 500. Dell himself is also in line for a potential $20 billion payday this fall if his cloud computing spinoff VMware is finally sold to semiconductor giant Broadcom for $61 billion after a year of regulatory battles. It’s just the latest deal for Dell, who has shepherded the company he started as a teenager through multiple restructurings, including two IPOs 30 years apart.

10. MICHAEL BLOOMBERG

12. JIM WALTON & FAMILY

THE FORBES 400

$71.5 billion  • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Dell Technologies AGE: 58 • RESIDENCE: Austin, TX PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥

$96.3 billion  • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Bloomberg LP AGE: 81 • RESIDENCE: New York, NY PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥♥♥

$68.2 billion  • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Walmart AGE: 75 • RESIDENCE: Bentonville, AR PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥

In April, the Bloomberg cofounder committed to donating his 88% stake in his company, worth about $92 billion, to his charity Bloomberg Philanthropies before he dies. If he follows through, it will rank among the largest private donations ever. In the meantime, the former New York mayor is peeling off smaller bills from his fortune, giving away roughly $1.7 billion in 2022 to causes such as climate change and public health. In September, Bloomberg penned an opinion piece criticizing President Biden’s approach to the southern border, writing “Our long-broken immigration system has now become a full-blown crisis.”

13. ROB WALTON & FAMILY

$67.4 billion  • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Walmart AGE: 78 • RESIDENCE: Bentonville, AR PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥

14. ALICE WALTON

$66.5 billion  • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Walmart AGE: 73 • RESIDENCE: Fort Worth, TX PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥

$59.8 billion  • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Koch Industries AGE: 61 • RESIDENCE: New York, NY PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥

Knight got the Hollywood treatment this spring.

Ben Affleck donned a track suit to portray him in the hit movie Air, which chronicles Nike’s lucrative signing of Michael Jordan (No. 379). A longtime Oregon resident, Knight and his wife, Penny, pledged $400 million in April to rebuilding Black Portland—specifically Albina, a historically Black neighborhood where he struck a handshake deal with his former University of Oregon track coach in 1964 to start Nike. The project will combine private investing and philanthropy. Knight has already given away $3.4 billion, mostly to his alma mater, in the hope of spreading the majority of his wealth to charity and not to Uncle Sam.

19. JACQUELINE MARS

$38.9 billion  • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Candy, pet food AGE: 83 • RESIDENCE: The Plains, VA PHILANTHROPY SCORE: N/A

19. JOHN MARS

16. CHARLES KOCH & FAMILY

$38.9 billion  • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Candy, pet food AGE: 87 • RESIDENCE: Jackson, WY PHILANTHROPY SCORE: N/A

Julia Koch has kept a low profile since inheriting the fortune built by her late husband, David Koch (d. 2019), and his brother Charles, who at age 87 remains at the helm of $125 billion (revenue) conglomerate Koch Industries. Charles quietly donated some $5 billion worth of the private

The secretive Mars siblings own an estimated two-thirds of Mars Inc., the business behind M&M’s, Snickers, Ben’s Original rice and Iams pet food. Lately the $47 billion (2022 revenue) private company, founded by their grandfather in 1919 and run since 2001 by non-family CEOs, has been on a buying spree. It snapped up veterinary equipment firm Heska for $1.3 billion in June, added health brand Kevin’s Natural Foods in July and agreed to acquire a European specialist veterinary company called Synlab Vet in August.

$54.5 billion  • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Koch Industries AGE: 87 • RESIDENCE: Wichita, KS PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥

CHANGE IN WEALTH KEY: UP DOWN  UNCHANGED

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

The AI craze has been a major boon for Huang’s Nvidia, which produces more of the chips used for artificial intelligence systems than any other company. Investors have pushed shares up more than 200% since last year’s ranking, making Nvidia one of six companies on the planet with $1 trillion in market capitalization, a mark it reached in June. The surge propelled cofounder and CEO Huang’s net worth up $28 billion—or 216%, the list’s biggest gain in percentage terms—making him one of the 20 richest Americans for the first time.

Huang, a Taiwan-born Oregon State graduate, took Nvidia public in 1999 and has the company logo tattooed on his left arm.

$39.5 billion  • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Nike AGE: 85 • RESIDENCE: Hillsboro, OR PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥♥

15. JULIA KOCH & FAMILY

SIGNATORY OF THE GIVING PLEDGE:

$40.7 billion  • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Semiconductors AGE: 60 • RESIDENCE: Los Altos, CA PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥

18. PHIL KNIGHT & FAMILY

The heirs of Sam Walton (d. 1992) remain firmly in control of Walmart, holding more than 45% of the retailer’s shares, even after selling $4.5 billion (pretax) worth of stock in 2023. Denver Broncos owner Rob, who chaired the $611 billion (sales) company from 1992 until 2015, still sits on its board, alongside son-in-law Greg Penner and nephew Steuart Walton. Jim heads the family’s 219-branch Arvest Bank. Alice, the richest woman in America, has mainly focused on building the Crystal Bridges art museum in the family’s hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas. In March, she broke ground on the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, set to open its doors in Bentonville in 2025.

Jensen Huang

17. JENSEN HUANG

NEW TO LIST

RETURNEE

SPLIT FAMILY FORTUNE

WEALTH INHERITED VS. SELF-MADE SCORE:

PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥—♥♥♥♥♥

NOVEMBER 2023

JENSEN HUANG BY ETHAN PINES FOR FORBES

$101 billion  • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Microsoft AGE: 67 • RESIDENCE: Hunts Point, WA PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥

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company’s nonvoting stock in recent years to a pair of free market– focused tax-exempt groups.

It’s all part of his carefully structured plan to pass his wealth to his son Chase, daughter Elizabeth and nonprofits aligned with his vision for social change—almost certainly tax-free

9. STEVE BALLMER

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Here, the city is within your reach.

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

+90 212 334 4444

NOVEMBER 2023

PRO M OTI O N

Saudi Hospitality, At Its Best and building the right team. “We are trained to focus on the guest journey from the beginning until the end,” he insists. The general manager explains that he and his team look at the details and preferences of every guest and use that insight to better understand and anticipate requirements. It is a painstaking and ongoing task; consistency in guest experience requires a long-term commitment that involves every employee.

Mahmoud Omar, General Manager at Courtyard

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or more than 35 years, Courtyard by Marriott has been a go-to destination for discerning business travelers the world over. With inviting public spaces, relaxed dining, and modern lobbies that offer flexible workspace, the much-loved brand has steadily grown in popularity over time, with presence today in 1,200 locations in more than 60 countries. Now just three years since it opened its doors, Courtyard by Marriott Riyadh Northern Ring Road is continuing the brand’s three-decade legacy and welcoming visitors as Saudi Arabia strives to bring Vision 2030 to life.

For Mahmoud Omar, General Manager at Courtyard by Marriott Riyadh Northern Ring Road, getting it right in today’s competitive hospitality space is all about guest experience, strong leadership,

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I strongly believe that well-trained and motivated staff can significantly impact the guest experience.

Last year, the team’s efforts earned recognition from global HQ when the hotel won the Hotel Team of the Year for Premium & Select Brands Middle East by Mariott. Since 2021, Courtyard by Marriott Riyadh Northern Ring Road has also earned various other accolades, including Leading New Hotel from the World Travel Awards as well as Best Business Hotel and Best City Hotel in Saudi Arabia from the International Travel Awards.

For a property that only opened its doors in June 2020, they are proud achievements and, for Omar, a testament to the strength of the team and the importance of communication. “My team always gives their best,” he says.

“We had various obstacles along the way, and transparent and

The thoughts expressed in this advertorial are those of the client.

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

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Mahmoud Omar, General Manager at Courtyard by Marriott Riyadh Northern Ring Road, is committed to exceeding guest expectations and stamping the hotel’s mark on Saudi Arabia’s evolving hospitality landscape. clear communication is crucial during tough times. Keeping the team informed about upcoming changes, challenges, the reasons behind them, and how they will impact their department builds much-needed confidence.”

For the GM, good communication is not just critical in times of challenge, it is a cornerstone of the hotel’s success on a daily basis. As he sees it, involving staff in strategic planning and seizing every discussion and issue as an opportunity for learning can really make a difference.

In fact, learning is a continuous theme at Riyadh’s Courtyard

by Marriott Northern Ring Road and Omar sees it as vital to developing the right team. “We have embraced a culture of adaptability, emphasizing the constant need for change and being open to new ideas and approaches,” he explains.

For the industry veteran of 20 years, the focus of learning is not just on understanding the intricacies of the hotel and its guests, it is on the wider market dynamics. “It is crucial to keep ourselves informed about industry trends, market fluctuations, and emerging technologies,” he explains, adding that he and his team regularly attend industry conferences and network with other hoteliers and industry leaders to stay ahead of the curve.

Investing in learning and development is not only about nurturing talent, but also about retaining it. As Omar explains, by NOVEMBER 2023

PRO M OTI O N Scan this QR code to open the website

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“At the hotel, we foster a development plan for each individual and focus on training them. I strongly believe that welltrained and motivated staff can significantly impact the guest experience and lead to better service and guest satisfaction,” says the general manager.

Omar speaks not just as a leader, but as an industry veteran who, himself, rose through the ranks at Marriott International. Starting out in operations as a front office agent, he developed his career, shifting to revenue management before eventually assuming his current role. In particular, it was his time in revenue management that sharpened his skills in planning and strategy development – skills that would stand him in good stead for

senior leadership. “My previous manager once told me before accepting the revenue management role that I could do it, and that learning revenue management would help me in many areas in my life.

That’s how I started to become a risktaker, and in every challenge, I see an opportunity,” he explains.

Omar’s own career progression and decades of hands-on experience have shaped his leadership style and the culture at the Courtyard by Marriott in Riyadh.

His diverse background in revenue management, hotel operations, and opening properties across luxury, premium, and select brands have made him adaptable, datadriven, and customer-focused in his approach, as well as adept at managing change and complexity.

“I’ve also grown to be consistent, fair, and ethical with my work and within my team,” emphasizes the general manager. “These are all values we practice and live by at Courtyard by Marriott Northern Ring Road, and how I lead my team.”

The thoughts expressed in this advertorial are those of the client.

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

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We have embraced a culture of adaptability, emphasizing the constant need for change and being open to new ideas.

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focusing on every employee from the start of their journey with the hotel and helping them to shape their careers, the Courtyard by Marriott is able to retain the very best people and turn the industry-wide manpower challenge into a clear opportunity.

Riyadh’s Courtyard by Marriott Northern Ring Road is a relative newcomer, but with strong values and a strong team dedicated to delivering an exceptional guest experience, the hotel is set to make an impact as Saudi Arabia’s hospitality industry – and the economy at large – continue to grow from strength to strength.

www.courtyard.marriott.com NOVEMBER 2023

• 30 UNDER 30 •

30 UNDER 30 • AMIRA SAJWANI

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PHOTOGRAPH BY MUSTAPHA AZAB FOR FORBES MIDDLE EAST

PROPERTY ROYALTY

Amira Sajwani, Founder and CEO of Dubai-based proptech startup PRYPCO, has set out to digitize real estate. With property in her blood and a legacy to expand, she’s building on strong foundations.

BY LAYAN ABO SHKIER

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

NOVEMBER 2023

The daughter of the U.A.E.’s most successful property moguls, Amira Sajwani, Founder and CEO of Dubaibased proptech startup PRYPCO, was arguably always destined to go into real estate. “My journey began as a curious child, closely observing the entrepreneurial spirit of my father, Hussain Sajwani, who not only shaped the skyline of Dubai but also pioneered the property market expansion in the city,” she admits.

“The dinner table conversations at our home were never just about food. They were my first lessons in real estate, strategy, and innovation. I didn’t just grow up surrounded by business but immersed in it.”

Hussain Sajwani is the chairman of Dubai-based luxury real estate developer DAMAC Properties, which he founded in 2002. He is the richest man in the U.A.E. and was the third richest Arab in 2023, with a net worth of $4.5 billion as of November 6, 2023, according to Forbes. Therefore, it was only natural that Amira and her brothers grew up to help further build their family’s empire.

Between dinner table talks and the DAMAC offices, Amira was actively involved in various dimensions of her family enterprise as she grew up. She began her professional journey in DAMAC’s commercial department, where she gained insights into project management and international development. She also worked closely with DAMAC’s chief finance officer, who helped her develop an understanding and interest in private equity as well as mergers and acquisitions and was instrumental in her decision to pursue a master’s in corporate finance.

In 2017, at the age of 22, she officially joined the family business as the general manager of sales and development at DAMAC Properties. Then, in 2022, Sajwani was promoted to managing director of sales and development, overseeing growth strategy and product development across the brand’s international real estate portfolio. She is also responsible for DAMAC’s network of direct and independent sales F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

“OUR AMBITION FOR PRYPCO TRANSCENDS TRADITIONAL REAL ESTATE BOUNDARIES. WE’RE STRIVING TO CRAFT VIBRANT ECOSYSTEMS THAT EMPOWER THE PROPERTY MARKET.” Sajwani prefers to describe PRYPCO as an “ecosystem” rather than a platform, which she believes sets her startup apart from others in the market. When establishing PRYPCO, Sajwani wanted to offer a holistic experience to anyone in the real estate market, offering them all services possible under one umbrella.

PRYPCO offers services like Rent-Now-Pay-Later, allowing tenants to get quick loans to pay a full year’s rent to landlords, enabling them to negotiate better deals. It also offers a mortgage vertical that features a dashboard providing stakeholders with transparency on leads, and it ensures that all buyers, second homeowners, or those seeking to refinance their existing homes receive their pre-approvals within 48 hours. It even offers visa processing services for expats and nonresidents in the U.A.E. So far, according to the founder, PRYPCO has disbursed mortgages worth over $409 million and served more than 2,000 customers. It has also established affiliations with the top 3,000 brokers in the

NOVEMBER 2023

39 30 UNDER 30 • AMIRA SAJWANI

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agents, as well as associated programs and initiatives.

After learning all the ins and outs of the industry, Sajwani decided that it was time to build on the legacy and start shaping the future of real estate herself, just as her father had helped shape it before. “While my experiences at DAMAC were exceptional, what drove me most was an innate desire to make my mark. It was more than just a business legacy I was a part of; it was about furthering that legacy, introducing new paradigms, and leading the next wave of innovations in the industry,” she adds.

Realizing that digitization is the key to the future for any industry, in October 2022, Sajwani launched PRYPTO—which was later renamed PRYPCO in April 2023—a tech-enabled “ecosystem” that acts as a one-stop destination that unites buyers, investors, tenants, homeowners, agents, and brokers, offering real estate-related-services from buying a property, selling, leasing, or even financing. “Technology was reshaping industries, and I recognized its nascent potential in redefining the market. This insight was the catalyst for PRYPCO,” says the 28-year-old founder.

The U.A.E. witnessed a boom in real estate in 2023. Dubai’s luxury home prices surged by 15.9% in the 12 months.

“The Dubai real estate market has been on an upward trajectory since 2020, achieving record-breaking sales values and volumes. Notably, Dubai’s global attention surged due to its effective management of the Covid19 pandemic and subsequent government initiatives targeting businesses and high-net-worth individuals, enhancing its attractiveness on the world stage,” says Richard Waind, CEO of Betterhomes. “Dubai now has tremendous momentum, and we are seeing a buyer profile in the luxury market that we haven’t seen in previous years. Dubai has swiftly become a soughtafter second home destination for high-net-worth individuals, aligning itself with iconic cities like New York, Monaco, and London.”

According to Sajwani, the U.A.E. property market presents many opportunities to those seeking to invest.

“When considering opportunities, the strong economic growth in the U.A.E. stands out prominently. The nation’s pro-investment regulations, encompassing long-term visas for property owners and a transparent F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

tax framework, are sculpting an environment that’s inviting to global investors,” she explains. She also adds that the integration of sustainability and modern technology has further increased the attractiveness of the country and the region.

“Dubai is among the top destinations in the real estate sector due to its effective futuristic vision and capabilities that provide all the facilities and factors sought by any investor around the world. Among these factors are the security factor, economic stability, and economic development, including the absence of taxes, the speed of real estate transactions, and the availability of high demand in the market,” says Ghaith Atassi, real estate consultant at Primo Capital.

However, Sajwani recognizes that with these opportunities often come challenges, including navigating fluctuating market conditions, keeping abreast with evolving and complex regulations, ensuring the attraction and retention of top industry talent, integrating technological advancements seamlessly, and addressing market concerns related to oversupply and changing buyer preferences. According to the founder, strategic foresight and adaptability are the keys to facing these challenges, which is a priority for PRYPCO at this point to survive and flourish. “Even in the face of challenges, our commitment to these principles allows us to empower both PRYPCO and the larger real estate community to continue thriving,” she says.

As PRYPCO continues to build on its services, it is gearing up to launch “PRYPCO Blocks” by the end of 2023, a new vertical that will enable fractional ownership, where individuals can buy a fraction or a “block” of the property for as low as $136 and make passive income.

Sajwani says that PRYPCO will now continue to add more verticals until it reaches a point where it has integrated the entire real estate journey into one platform, just like how she envisioned it when she launched it a year ago. “I see us as architects of transformative change. While the U.A.E. remains our anchor, our aspirations stretch regionally and then globally. We aim to not only establish our footprint but also set new standards of excellence across international markets,” she insists. “Our ambition for PRYPCO transcends traditional real estate boundaries. We’re striving to craft vibrant ecosystems that empower the property market.”

NOVEMBER 2023

KIRILL NEIEZHMAKOV/ SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

30 UNDER 30 • AMIRA SAJWANI

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U.A.E., with a success rate for pre-approvals within 48 hours standing at 95%.

The U.A.E. witnessed a boom in real estate in 2023.

Dubai’s luxury home prices surged by 15.9% in the 12 months leading up to September, holding the second spot on The Prime Global Cities Index (PGCI) by Knight Frank among 46 cities worldwide. In June 2023, the emirate was in the top position in the ranking for the eighth consecutive quarter, with house prices in Dubai soaring by 225% since reaching a pandemic low in Q3 2020. According to Statista, the value of the real estate market in the U.A.E. is projected to reach $690 billion in 2023, with an annual growth rate of 3% between 2023 and 2028, reaching a market volume of $800 billion by 2028.

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PRO M OTI O N

Shaping The Future: The Transformational Journey Of A Tech Event Pioneer 42

Mohammed Saleem, founder of leading business events and consulting firm, Trescon, built a thriving company against the odds. Now, he is reaching new heights by investing in tech, supporting society, and shaping the future of global events.

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n the early 2000s, after more than a decade working in business events, Mohammed Saleem grew discontented with the industry status quo. Determined to make a change, he embarked on a mission to establish a global platform connecting innovators, thought leaders, and industry experts. By 2016, he had brought business events and consulting firm, Trescon to life, and its influence was felt from the outset, with Saleem’s leadership and dedication to quality propelling the company to prominence.

Resilience Rewritten: The Trescon Odyssey Guided by Saleem, Trescon bloomed with a robust team of 250+ professionals, orchestrating celebrated global events. But as the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic started to bite, the challenges began to mount, and Saleem faced some of his life’s most testing moments. In fact, he risked his personal wealth and even came close to losing his home in a bid to keep the company thriving.

Mohammed Saleem, founder of Trescon

The thoughts expressed in this advertorial are those of the client.

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Despite such vulnerabilities, Saleem showcased unwavering determination. Eschewing the conventional route of downsizing, he leveraged the challenging period to delve into novel technologies, transforming Trescon’s events into global knowledge-sharing and networking epicenters.

NOVEMBER 2023

PRO M OTI O N Scan this QR code to open the website

Digital Pivot: Leading Amidst Adversity During the Covid-19 crisis, Saleem’s leadership took center stage.

Identifying the need for flexibility and ingenuity, he spearheaded Trescon’s seamless transition to virtual events, ensuring business continuity and mitigating the pandemic’s impacts. This adept transition showcased his aptitude to navigate rough waters and emerge even more resilient on the other side. In fact, with Saleem at the helm, Trescon experienced its most lucrative year amidst the pandemic.

to over 50 underprivileged children annually and providing healthcare to those in need, the Trescon Foundation embodies Saleem’s vision of a more equitable world. For the company founder, it is not just about attaining success but about ensuring that success leaves a positive footprint on society.

Trescon “ experienced its

most lucrative year amidst the pandemic.

“

During what counted as demanding times, Saleem felt lucky to have the unwavering support of his cofounders, friends, and colleagues. Most importantly, he appreciated his wife, Dr. Fameeda Saleem, who provided significant contributions and invaluable emotional support, which in turn resulted in sustained growth for Trescon. For Saleem, the adage, ‘Behind every successful man is a woman,’ rings true. Today, his dedication to excellence and support for women’s rights shines through, with women constituting over 50% of Trescon’s team.

Blockchain & AI: Converging Global Innovators In 2017, Saleem initiated the Dubai edition of the World Blockchain Summit, the globe’s premier gathering for blockchain and crypto aficionados. To date, more than 26 editions of the World Blockchain Summit have been staged in 15+ countries, and it counts as the longest-running blockchain summit series globally.

Empowering Roots: The Trescon Foundation Despite scaling great heights, Saleem has not forgotten his roots. Driven by a heartfelt desire to give back to society, he initiated the Trescon Foundation, a philanthropic arm that reflects Trescon’s commitment to uplifting communities.

Next, 2018 saw the launch of the World AI Show in Dubai, which expanded to over 10 countries within 18 months and boasts 46+ editions globally. The events take place at strategic locations across the world and convene visionaries, tech innovators, startups, and investors to discuss and shape the futures of blockchain and AI.

The benevolent venture aims to bring about tangible change, particularly for those at the societal periphery. With flagship initiatives that include granting scholarships

Chasing Constellations: The ‘Dream Big’ Ethos As Trescon’s founder and chairman, Saleem fervently embodies the ‘Dream Big’ ethos. Setting audacious

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F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

objectives, he keeps a vigilant watch on operations and revenue, pushing Trescon to constantly surpass industry standards. He champions the sentiment, ‘dream big, aim for the stars, and you’ll at least land on the moon.’

Funding Futures: Saleem’s Ventures into Tech Titans Saleem’s impact isn’t confined to his enterprises. He advises and invests in several global tech and manufacturing entities, including Esyasoft Technologies, Covalent Technologies, Demandify, RivalArium, and BLive. His strategic insights are shaping innovations across diverse sectors.

Epicenter of Excellence: Saleem’s Guiding Beacon Mohammed Saleem’s ascent from founding Trescon to becoming a global tech event luminary is both an inspirational tale and a guiding light for budding entrepreneurs.

His endeavors have not only set new industry benchmarks but also fostered collaboration. His ventures into emerging technologies, evidenced by his investments and advisory roles, further underscore his visionary stance.

Saleem’s journey serves as a potent reminder that the tech event industry and emerging technologies present infinite possibilities for those bold enough to grasp them.

www.tresconglobal.com NOVEMBER 2023

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• 30 UNDER 30 •

30 UNDER 30 • ABDULLAH AND ABDULAZIZ BAKR

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GOOD VIBES

Abdullah and Abdulaziz Bakr, Cofounders of The Saudi Reporters, have built a fanbase of 8.7 million subscribers on YouTube with their comedy videos. Now, the twin brothers are tapping into Saudi Arabia’s cinematic charge.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MUSTAPHA AZAB FOR FORBES MIDDLE EAST

BY SAMAR KHOURI

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

NOVEMBER 2023

Twin brothers Abdullah and Abdulaziz Bakr are arguably one of the Middle East’s biggest standouts in the creator economy, with their larger-than-life personalities and positive energy—which are evident both on and offline—leading their collection of comedy videos on YouTube to gain a cult following across the region.

Having established their YouTube channel in 2010, the 29-year-old Saudi-based comedic duo had created 368 videos and racked up 1.7 billion views—more than 52.8 times the population of their native country—as of October 25, 2023. Their strong online influence and creative engagement won them the Favorite Team award at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards in Abu Dhabi in September 2023, where they beat the likes of Fozi Mozi, Alj Sisters, and The Anazala Family. It’s their third award from Nickelodeon, having previously won Favorite Arab Internet Star in 2018 and Favorite Arab Star in 2021.

“What makes our content special is that we’re not your typical Saudi content creators,” says Abdulaziz. The twins are known for their collection of humorous, satirical comedy videos that include challenges, food tastings, travel vlogs, viral music videos, animation cartoons, and reports on domestic and international events. “I didn’t know why, but people noticed us. Because maybe we were the first individual people from the Arab world that created and did content on social media.”

Now, the pair are taking steps into the film industry and establishing their own production company, Bakr Brothers, as Saudi Arabia invests in its flourishing entertainment industry as part of its Vision 2030 economic blueprint. “We love movies, and one of our biggest dreams is to become like famous figures that appear on the silver screen,” says Abdullah.

It was their love for performing that first led them into the creative field. The twins started off making videos from their rooms, with the help of their sister F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

“IF SOMEONE JUST SAYS, ‘SAUDI REPORTERS,’ WE WANT A POSITIVE FEELING OR BUTTERFLY FEELINGS TO ENTER THEIR BODY JUST BY SAYING THE NAME.” “We always say that we’re one community. We loved creating a space or a world where everyone who watches us can support each other,” Abdullah explains. “When we started, we wanted to create a place or imaginary world where people can escape their bad reality and enjoy it, even if it’s for 10 minutes. It’s a recharging moment. They can recharge their battery and everything, and then they can go back and with a high spirit.”

In 2016, Saudi Arabia witnessed a 50% growth in watch time on YouTube, accounting for a third of the Middle East’s total watch time, according to Google, thanks in part to an increased number of creators and diverse content. “In MENA, we know that people sought a sense of connection with the content they viewed and tried to find something more relatable to their daily lives, whether from linguistic or cultural perspectives, for example. The interest and diversity reflect the range of interests and identities in MENA,” says Hala Ajil, Partner Manager at YouTube for MENA.

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Kholoud, with mobile phones that at that time didn’t have editing tools and access to the internet.

“We didn’t show them to anyone. It was only for us. So, you can say it was our escape place from the reality. We really, really enjoyed it,” remembers Abdulaziz. In 2009, their father stumbled upon their videos and encouraged the pair to upload them onto YouTube.

In April 2010, aged 15, they launched a dedicated YouTube account, calling themselves “The Saudi Reporters” with a slogan that loosely translates to “Ready?? I’m always ready!!!” meaning are you ready to chase your dreams, believe in yourself, overcome your fears, achieve your goals, and whatever is coming in your way whether it’s good or bad? The brothers used the word “reporters” as they initially planned to interview people on the street. They later expanded their content-creating ideas, but the name stuck. Today, their legion of fans—which they say are mostly young adults between the ages of 13 and 29— call themselves “the reporters.”

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

NOVEMBER 2023

IMAGE FROM SOURCE

30 UNDER 30 • ABDULLAH AND ABDULAZIZ BAKR

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In a hypercompetitive online world, personal They plan to launch their own production company connection and authenticity are rewarded, aspects in 2024. “It’s really exciting, and we’re nervous at the that the twin brothers have been able to successfully same time because it’s the first time we’ve taken this deliver to their followers. “YouTubers like Abdullah professional step. We’re trying to take acting classes. and Abdulaziz Bakr continually capture viewers’ We want to do it right,” says Abdullah. attention through a combination of factors,” says Away from their professional goals, the duo are also Hussein Dajani, Partner at Deloitte Digital. “Their keen to use their platform to raise awareness and give content is relatable, reflecting the experiences, humor, back, driven by Abdullah’s own experiences of health and interests of their target audience. They engage issues that led him to have a heart transplant. In 2022, with their viewers, responding to comments and the Bakr brothers released an online documentary participating in trending topics. And their consistency about Abdullah’s medical journey. “We wanted to in uploading content also keeps audiences returning show how organ donation is really, really important for more.” because I think in the region, awareness isn’t that As of October 2023, their YouTube channel had well fed,” explains Abdullah. “It’s a really important garnered an impressive 8.7 million subscribers. The topic, and it really does save lives. You become a hero.”

Bakr brothers’ popularity has not gone unnoticed.

Global creator KSI also features in the documentary.

They have collaborated with major brands such as Disney, Loewe, Google, Netflix, Samsung, Unilever, and Montblanc.

The twins have also put their entrepreneurial skills to the test, cashing in on their digital fame by launching their own clothing brand “Jaheeez” in 2018 and after obtaining their BSc in Marketing and Management Information Systems from UBT, they launched the Borkan E-Marketing Company in 2020, offering Abdullah and Abdulaziz strong online influence and creative engagement won them the Favorite consultancy, production, Team award at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards in Abu Dhabi in September 2023. and advertising services for brands. In May 2020, the pair joined a host of other Saudi Arabian YouTube “Abdullah and Abdulaziz believe in the power creators to livestream an Iftar during the pandemic, of community and experimenting with different breaking a Guinness World Record for most viewers in formats on YouTube,” says YouTube’s Ajil. “For the process. them, community isn’t just a word or check box but Now, they’re planning to make their formal entrance a very real connection to their community around into the country’s cinemas, looking at acting and the world. In fact, more creators in MENA choose scriptwriting while Saudi Arabia’s film industry YouTube as the top platform for connecting them to grows. In March 2023, Saudi’s Cultural Development the right audience for their content, compared to other Fund launched a $234 million film sector financing platforms surveyed.” program initiative. A report by the Ministry of With a loyal fanbase and a clear path ahead, the Commerce revealed that Saudi’s cinema sector grew brothers are determined to continue spreading by 28% during Q2 2023 compared to the year before. positivity. “If someone just says, ‘Saudi Reporters,’ we The twins are currently working on multiple projects, want a positive feeling or butterfly feelings to enter developing their own series and a movie while working their body just by saying the name,” says Abdullah. alongside multiple mentors to create the best scripts.

“We want that to be our legacy.”

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Communications is a GAME-CHANGING INDUSTRY For 25 years, TRACCS has been inspiring, driving, and leading the evolution of communications in the Middle East and North Africa into a game-changing industry with the power to influence positive change and deliver present and future impact.

TRACCS offers the full scope of tailored, integrated communications solutions including real time, strategic insights, and optimal, effective, and high-return communication campaigns and programs.

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

NOVEMBER 2023

Our Judges

THE LIST

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Saeeda Jaffar Senior Vice President and Group Country Manager for the GCC at Visa.

Sherif Beshara Group CEO of Mohamed & Obaid Almulla Group and American Hospital Dubai.

Tariq Chauhan Group CEO and Cofounder of EFS Facilities Services.

UNDER Forbes Middle East 30 Under 30

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Class Of 2023

he inspirational young leaders, dreamers, creatives, and athletes on our 30 Under 30 list are at the forefront of driving change in the MENA region, expanding their influence into untapped areas. This year, our list features 120 entries across four categories, with 30 entries each, shedding light on the individuals who are leading the way in the social impact and green energy field, disrupting the financial market, shattering barriers in arts and sports, and harnessing the cutting-edge technologies to create groundbreaking inventions and medicines.

The 2023 list features 145 individuals representing 22 nationalities. Egyptians feature the most, with 44 individuals, followed by 15 Saudis, 14 Lebanese, 13 Emiratis, and 10 Jordanians.

They are based across 20 countries. Of the 145 individuals, 43 are based in the U.A.E., 36 in Egypt, 14 in Saudi Arabia, nine in Lebanon, and six in Jordan. The average age of all individuals on the list is around 26.6 years old, with the youngest being just 15 years old.

While each category has 30 entries, the Commerce & Finance category has the highest number of individuals with 44, followed by Science & Technology and Social Impact with 34 each, and Entertainment with 33 individuals.

Anthony Nakache Dalia El-Baz Hady El Hajjar Managing Director Executive Deputy Cofounder of of Google MENA. Chairman at the National HuManagement.

Bank of Egypt (NBE).

Hoda Mansour Chief Operating Officer Asia Pacific, Japan, Middle East & Africa at IFS.

Hossam ElGamal Vice President of North Africa at Anghami.

Lana Khalaf Country General Manager at Microsoft Qatar.

Leila Serhan Mohamed Moon Baz Al Sharhan Senior Vice President Creator Partnerships and Group Country Managing Director at Lead, Africa, Middle Manager for North World Governments East, and Türkiye at Africa, Levant, and Summit Meta.

Pakistan at Visa.

To nominate yourself or someone else for our lists, email: info@forbesmiddleeast.com F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

NOVEMBER 2023

• Abdallah Abu Sheikh, 28 Occupation: Cofounder and CEO of Astra Tech Nationality: Jordanian Residence: U.A.E.

• Alia Almansoori, 20 Occupation: Researcher Nationality: Emirati Residence: U.A.E. Almansoori studied space biology and designed an experiment measuring the changes in genetic material while in space. Her experiment won first place at the U.A.E.’s inaugural Genes in Space competition, which sent her to the U.S. to work with a team at Harvard University before going to Florida’s Kennedy Space Center to watch a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carry her experiment into orbit. She was the first Emirati to send an experiment to the International Space Station.

Currently, she is studying Mars and asteroid research at the Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics.

UNDER

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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Abu Sheikh is a serial entrepreneur. In 2022, he raised $500 million for consumer technology holding group Astra Tech from G42 and led the acquisition of the fintech platform PayBy, the on-demand home services platform Rizek, and BOTIM, with an aim to create an ultra app. In 2023, he launched an Arabic GPT and physical and digital multi-currency cards. He serves 150 million underserved users globally with his ultra app, including 15 million users in India and the Philippines.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY MUSTAPHA AZAB FOR FORBES MIDDLE EAST

• Abdullah Kamel, 28 Occupation: Cofounder and Co-CEO of adam.ai Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt Kamel embarked on a journey to cofound adam.ai in 2017 as a B2B meeting management platform, which allows capturing meeting content and managing the whole meeting lifecycle from scheduling and running to following up postmeeting. His company mainly targets enterprises. Today, it works with over 16,000 teams across the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Middle East, including ADNOC.

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• Amira Sajwani, 28 Occupation: Founder and CEO of PRYPCO Nationality: Emirati Residence: U.A.E.

Sajwani is the founder and CEO of PRYPCO, which offers Rent Now Pay Later services that allow tenants to pay their rent in installments, as well as mortgage services and fractional ownership of real estate. Sajwani is also the managing director of sales and development at DAMAC Properties. PRYPCO has over $409 million worth of mortgages disbursed, more than 2,000 customers, and affiliations with 3,000 brokers in the U.A.E.

NOVEMBER 2023

• Ahmed Adel, 29

microgravity and radiation on the human body.

Occupation: Founder and CEO of CardoO Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt

Occupation: Researcher and Innovation Coordinator at Siemens Healthineers for Middle East and Africa Nationality: Egyptian Residence: U.A.E.

CardoO specializes in IoT consumer electronics, with its flagship product being the CardoO smartwatch. Since its inception, it has sold over 200,000 units. Its initial market focus has been primarily on Egypt, but it plans to expand to Saudi Arabia by Q2 2024. The company raised a $660,000 seed round and is currently in discussions with potential investors for a Series A funding round.

• Aayushman Dalmia, 28 Occupation: Founder and CEO of Zoftware Nationality: Indian Residence: U.A.E. Dalmia founded the online B2B platform Zoftware to provide SMEs with software solutions.

It currently serves more than 6,000 software companies and 500 technology service providers across the U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and Egypt. It has secured $720,000 in funding since its inception in November 2022. He is also the cofounder of the jewelry marketplace Carat Finder.

• Bader Shirah, 26 Occupation: Researcher, Founder and CEO of Nebula Research and Development Nationality: Saudi Residence: Saudi Arabia Shirah has published more than 160 papers in international peer-reviewed journals. He also released a book on space medicine in Arabic and led workshops to educate Saudi students and scientists about the emerging field of space medicine. Shirah founded Nebula Research & Development, a Saudi company specializing in space medicine research and development. He is currently conducting in-space research on the Saudi astronaut mission Ax-2 in order to better understand the effects of

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Dana Alsulaiman

Aayushman Dalmia

Hassan invented Bloom, an innovative design for a 3D-printed prosthetic limb for upper leg amputees in impoverished and waraffected countries. This prosthetic is manufactured using recycled bottle caps.

She runs innovation capacitybuilding programs across the Middle East and Southern Eastern Africa with the Siemens Healthineers Innovation Think Tank and created “Little Innovators,” an innovation infrastructure at the Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357 that enables children to generate creative healthcare solutions, which they then help turn into startups.

• Dana Alsulaiman, 29 Occupation: Assistant Professor at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Nationality: Saudi Residence: Saudi Arabia During her postdoctoral fellowship at MIT, Alsulaiman published research articles on advanced biosensors and precision medicine, including developing a functional hydrogel-coated microneedle platform, which enables rapid and non-invasive sampling and detection of cancerspecific biomarkers from the skin’s interstitial fluid. She has published over 12 research articles and has one U.S. patent that she obtained with MIT during her PhD/ postdoc research and two U.S. provisional patents filed since starting her own research group at KAUST two years ago.

She also has two additional patents in preparation for filing.

Alsulaiman is also a director of the BioMAD Lab and vice chair of KAUST’s Institutional Biosafety and Bioethics Committee.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY MUSTAPHA AZAB FOR FORBES MIDDLE EAST

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• Dahlia Hassan, 25

She found a solution for a nitrate problem in water by synthesizing a magnetic nanotube functionalized with cystine and hydroxylamine.

The percentage of removal reached 96%. She also created a modified carbon nanotube filter for the removal of pharmaceutical and pesticide residues from water. Hanbali has published 23 papers in a scientific journal.

Occupation: Vice President of GKSD Healthcare Middle East and Chief Development Officer for the Gulf region Nationality: Emirati Residence: U.K. Almulla is part of GKSD Healthcare Middle East’s executive strategic planning team, where she is responsible for leading the development operation and identifying funding sources. She is also a project manager for the smart clinic fund that plans to establish six smart clinic hospitals in the Gulf region within the next three years.

During the pandemic, her team at the University College London worked in collaboration with Oxford University and AstraZeneca to develop the AstraZeneca vaccine. She also worked on designing and developing a biological reactor to extract plasmids with quality standards that meet the FDA requirements for vaccination and gene therapy applications.

• Ghassan Oueidat, 28 Fatma Almulla

Oueidat created an autonomous robotic cleaner that can replace workers who clean skyscraper windows. His project, Spicedr, was awarded funding from Berytech in 2018.

A year later, he cofounded Asymptotic Robotics to produce his facade-cleaning robot, ANKABOT, having received $120,000 in grants and awards.

Along with his team, Oueidat has published two research papers about an instrument to measure and track the thickness of oil spills in open sea conditions and collaborated with the U.S. government to design a sensor. It secured funding from the government and was granted a patent.

During the pandemic, he and his friend launched the staff augmentation company Devups, which they later sold.

• Galal Elbeshbishy, 28

KAREEM AYYAD BY MUSTAPHA AZAB FOR FORBES MIDDLE EAST, FATMA ALMULLA/ IMAGE FROM SOURCE

Occupation: Cofounder and COO of Synapse Analytics Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt Elbeshbishy cofounded Synapse Analytics, which helps businesses embed AI and machine learning into their operations. Its flagship tool, Konan, allows financial institutions to manage their credit risk decisions. Between October 2022 and October 2023, the company processed more than $105 million in granted loans and roughly three times that amount in rejected or undisbursed loans. Synapse Analytics has over 50 clients, including P&G and Unilever, and has raised $2 million in funding.

• Kareem Ayyad, 28 Occupation: Cofounder of Uktob.ai Nationality: JordanianCanadian Residence: U.A.E.

• Ghadir Hanbali, 29 Occupation: Assistant professor at An-Najah National University Nationality: Palestinian Residence: Palestine Hanbali has conducted numerous studies that have contributed to resolving issues concerning water impurities.

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Occupation: Cofounder and CEO of Asymptotic Robotics Nationality: Lebanese Residence: U.S.

Kareem Ayyad

Ayyad cofounded Uktob. ai, the startup behind AI assistant Faheem, which has over 250,000 registered users and 100,000 monthly active users. The company has raised $250,000 in pre-seed funding from Hustle Fund, Beyond Capital, and strategic angels in MENA. Its products used to be freemium, but it recently introduced subscriptions.

Uktob.ai recently launched a web platform with Faheem Chrome Extension.

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• Fatma Almulla, 28

• Keswin Suresh, 27 Occupation: Cofounder and COO of DarDoc Nationality: Indian Residence: U.A.E.

• Khalil Ramadi, 29 Occupation: Assistant Professor at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) Nationality: PalestinianAmerican Residence: U.A.E. Ramadi leads the Laboratory for Neuroengineering and Translational Medicine at NYU Abu Dhabi. In 2023, he led a team of researchers from LANTRN and MIT to develop an ingestible capsule that can be used to treat obesity, anorexia, and other medical conditions that benefit from adjusting someone’s food intake. Currently, they are collaborating with clinicians at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the U.S. to conduct clinical and human trials.

LANTRN has also developed a non-toxic approach to upcycle plastic bags and masks into quantum dots, a specific type of nanoparticle with economic value.

• Lama Aloraiman, 24 Occupation: Cofounder and COO of Ignition Kuwait, Founder & CEO of BLUDOT Nationality: Kuwaiti Residence: Kuwait Ignition LLC is Kuwait’s first space exploration research and development company.

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Lama Aloraiman

Aloraiman aims to build an analog habitat in Kuwait that simulates the Martian environment. At the age of 18, she became Kuwait’s national point of contact for the Space Generation Advisory Council and the national coordinator of the World Space Week Association in 2019. Aloraiman was granted an Emerging Space Leader Award by the International Astronautical Federation in 2022 and was named a space ambassador for Kuwait.

• Mohamad Almunajem, 26 Occupation: Founder and Chairman of AZOM Nationality: Saudi Residence: Saudi Arabia AZOM designs, develops, and sells electronics and computer software. It has raised $13.3 million in funding since its inception in 2020. AZOM sells its products in retail shops and online in Saudi Arabia

and Oman, and online in other Gulf countries. The startup has launched a smartphone, the AZOM River1 and AZOM Desert2, as well as a smartwatch, the AZOM watch. In May 2023, Chinese company Quhwa signed an MoU with AZOM to acquire a stake in the company.

• Mohamed Khaled; Mohamed ElSarrag, 29; 29 Occupation: Cofounders of Hotdesk Nationality: Egyptian-Irish; Egyptian Residence: U.A.E. Khaled and ElSarrag launched the on-demand workspace booking platform Hotdesk in 2021 as the Airbnb of office spaces. It allows users to find desks, meeting rooms, and offices, enabling companies to generate money from their empty office space. As of October 2023, Hotdesk had enabled over 350,000 people to

work from coworking spaces for over 2.5 million hours through a network of more than 1,700 offices in over 45 countries and over 200 cities. In 2023, Hotdesk acquired the Barcelona-based co-working app YADO.

• Mohammed Jamjoom, 28 Occupation: Cofounder of Juleb and Head Of Business Operations at Jamjoom Pharma Nationality: Saudi Residence: Saudi Arabia Jamjoom cofounded Juleb in 2018 as a SaaS solution for retail pharmacies. It was one of the first specialized POS software for pharmacies, with over 500 pharmacies using the software.

He is also the head of business operations at Jamjoom Pharma, having been part of the team that led the company’s $336 million IPO in the Saudi Tadawul in June 2023. Jamjoom Pharma’s market cap reached nearly $2 billion as of October 19.

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Suresh is the cofounder of DarDoc, a health-tech platform that offers primary, nursing, and social care services at home. It has been incubated and supported by Abu Dhabi’s Department of Health, Hub71, Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund, Flat6Labs U.A.E., and The Garage in Saudi Arabia.

It has raised $1 million in seed funding from angel investors, Flat6Labs U.A.E., and family offices. Today, the platform has over 500 professionals and has served more than 7,000 patients across Abu Dhabi and Dubai, accumulating over 150,000 care hours.

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F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

NOVEMBER 2023

• Mays Abuhantash, 27

• Reem AlMusabbeh, 24

Occupation: Clinical Research Scientist at ADSCC Nationality: Jordanian Residence: U.A.E. After obtaining her BSc in Human Genetics, Abuhantash pursued an MSc in Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, followed by her PhD research, which focused on rare childhood blood cancer and discovered two potential anti-leukemic drugs. Her research provides a platform for the study of all blood diseases. It also reduces the dependency on animals for research as it aims to provide a platform for better studies in the lab. She recently joined the Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Center as a clinical research scientist.

• Nour Sleiman, 27

Mays Abuhantash

AlMusabbeh has founded three technology ventures.

Her IT solutions house, Retech, provides digital solutions for startups and enterprises. Her second startup, Esaal, is an end-to-end receipt system for omnichannel retailers. She also cofounded Unipreneur, an engagement and development platform for youth. In less than two years, Unipreneur has organized more than 30 youth events, engagements, and industry-academia connect sessions.

Occupation: Cofounder and Chief Communication Officer at Cartlow Nationality: Spanish-Lebanese Residence: U.A.E. Cartlow operates as a reverse logistics solution, offering a business model that maximizes the value of returned and unwanted products. Since its launch, the business has managed over two million items, saving more than 36 million kg of carbon emissions and six million kg of waste. Cartlow has raised $23 million in funding, with 1.2 million users and two million visits per month. It operates in the U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.

• Omar Eldessouky; Mohamed El Khatieb, 22; 23 Occupation: Cofounders of Seqoon Nationality: Egyptian, Egyptian-British Residence: Egypt Eldessouky and El Khatieb cofounded the proptech startup Seqoon in 2021 as a property co-ownership digital platform, enabling fractional ownership of vacation homes. It has launched in El Gouna and on the North Coast in Egypt and is now eyeing other holiday destinations, with more than 14 shares sold so far. In 2022, Seqoon raised a $500,000 pre-seed round. It plans to launch its first location outside of Egypt in Q4 2023.

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Reem AlMusabbeh

NOVEMBER 2023

PHOTOGRAPH BY MUSTAPHA AZAB FOR FORBES MIDDLE EAST

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54

Occupation: Founder and CEO of Retech & Esaal and Cofounder and COO of Unipreneur Nationality: Emirati Residence: U.A.E.

to offer regulated digital asset products such as cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, CBDCs, and tokenized assets to their customers through their apps. In September 2023, Fuze raised $14 million in a seed round led by the ADQbacked investment company Further Ventures and New York’s Liberty City Ventures.

Shetty is also a limited partner in Hauz Khas Ventures. He previously cofounded allround. club, an education technology company.

Occupation: Founder and CEO of Bondai Nationality: Saudi Residence: Saudi Arabia Alderhali launched Bondai in 2020 to leverage Saudi’s vision to boost the domestic tourism sector. It gives partners access to flights on thousands of airlines, over 100 global tour operators, 70,000 destinations, 100,000 activities and experiences, and over a million hotels. Its notable partners include SAUDIA, Visit Saudi, Viator, TUI Group, and BookingBash. The company says it has raised funding from angel investors and VCs, including 500 Global, Impact46, HALA Ventures, Zayani VC, and DraperU Ventures, along with strategic partners in travel like Zahid Travel.

• Shahed Jaber; Jamal Abu-Samra, 28; 27

• Wedyan Babatain, 29

Saria Alderhali

Babatain’s research focuses on developing soft and flexible electronic platforms such as sensors and actuators, as well as fabrication strategies for healthcare and interactive applications. Her inventions introduced a novel multifunctional and physically compliant wearable platform that wirelessly monitors motion, temperature, humidity, and breathing patterns by using new materials such as laser-induced graphene and liquid metalbased electronics as the key sensing elements.

Shaheer Bardissi

SARIA ALDERHALI BY MUSTAPHA AZAB FOR FORBES MIDDLE EAST, SHAHEER BARDISSI/ IMAGE FROM SOURCE

Occupation: Cofounders of AUMET Nationality: Jordanian Residence: Jordan Jaber and Abu-Samra are leading B2B healthcare marketplace AUMET, which connects 10,000 pharmacies with suppliers across Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and Oman. The AI-enabled platform uses predictive analytics to forecast the procurement of products for pharmacies and facilitates the exchange of data between healthcare providers, manufacturers, and distributors.

The entrepreneurs—along with their third cofounder and CEO Yahya Aqel, who is above 30— have raised $15 million in funding from the Tokyo-based venture capital, AAIC, the Swiss PE firm AIJ Holdings, and Shorooq Partners, among others.

• Shaheer Bardissi, 29 Occupation: Cofounder of MiGenTra GmbH Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt MiGenTra GmbH is a biotech company developing new biological therapies and gene therapies to ensure affordable access to essential medicines F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Occupation: Postdoctoral researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Nationality: Saudi Residence: U.S.

• Zakaria Azemzi; Abdelaziz El Aiachi, 28; 28 Occupation: Cofounders of AZA Petrosolutions Nationality: Moroccan Residence: Morocco

in Egypt, the Middle East, and Africa. The company currently has six biologics and two gene therapies in its pipeline. It’s also in advanced talks with financial institutions to raise $100 million.

The company’s initial investments were obtained from Minapharm Pharmaceuticals, an Egyptianbased biopharmaceutical, of which Bardissi is a co-CEO. The company expects its first biologic

therapy to enter the market in 2023, while gene therapy will be available in 2027.

• Srijan Shetty, 28 Occupation: Cofounder and CTO of Fuze Nationality: Indian Residence: U.A.E. Fuze allows financial institutions

AZA Petrosolutions specializes in creating software and hardware solutions for the petroleum industry. It has developed a system that uses data analytics to optimize fuel consumption and reduce waste and costs for businesses. AZA’s products are currently used in over 1,100 petrol stations across Morocco, with over 86 clients, including VIVO Energy Maroc, TotalEnergies Maroc, and OLA Energy Maroc. It has partnered with distributors in African countries such as Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Nigeria to distribute their products.

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55 30 UNDER 30 • SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• Saria Alderhali, 27

• 30 UNDER 30 •

30 UNDER 30 • AL WALID EL HALLANI

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TUNING UP

Singer Al Walid El Hallani has been a rising star in the Arab world since winning the regional version of Celebrity Duets in 2019. The son of a musical titan in the Middle East, he’s now hoping to build his own legacy.

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

PHOTOGRAPH BY MUSTAPHA AZAB FOR FORBES MIDDLE EAST

BY NANCY BAHMAD

NOVEMBER 2023

It’s not uncommon for the children of famous stars to try and follow in the footsteps of their parents, but success is never guaranteed. Al Walid El Hallani, however, appears to be on the right path. El Hallani is the 23-year-old son of famed Lebanese singer Assi El Hallani. His father has been successfully creating music for over 32 years, with 23 albums released since 1991. The young up-and-comer has yet to release an album but has put out 16 singles since 2019, with four dropped in 2023 alone.

His repertoire includes a wide range of musical styles, with a special focus on Iraqi, Egyptian, and Lebanese music. His biggest hits so far include “Zeffo El Amar,” which had more than 6.7 million views on YouTube as of November 2023, and “Trend El Mosem,” which had over 5.9 million. His song “Galatli” is his most popular song so far, racking up over 8.2 million views on YouTube. “My musical approach is defined by its lack of confinement to a singular style,” says El Hallani. “I believe this is what distinguishes me from other artists: the flexibility to seamlessly move between various musical styles, showcasing my adaptability and connecting with a broad audience.”

Having released his debut single in 2019, had 1.2 million followers on Instagram as of November 2023, with his YouTube channel garnering 57.7 million views. On Spotify, he boasts over 322,000 monthly listeners, and on Anghami, his music has been played over 20.4 million times.

El Hallani is now taking his captivating tunes on international tours, including to the U.S., Australia, and Europe, but his journey to stardom began at home in Lebanon, among a family with music in their blood. His sister Maritta is also a successful singer, and she was the first to notice her younger brother’s talent.

“When we were young, [Maritta] used to always sing and record herself at home, and we would F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

“THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF MY CAREER, AND THERE’S MUCH MORE TO COME IN THIS EXCITING JOURNEY.” Celebrity Duets season 3. The show features nonsinging celebrities teaming up with famous singers to perform in front of a live studio audience, with the public voting on weekly eliminations. El Hallani went on to win the show in 2019. “The experience shifted perceptions, convincing people of my vocal capabilities,” he explains. “Winning became the catalyst that earned me credibility and acceptance as a genuinely talented singer.”

El Hallani released his debut single, Aam Yes2alou, in March 2019. He admits that throughout his journey so far, he has picked up invaluable industry tactics from his father, ranging from how to build professional relationships within the business to understanding and appreciating the audience. “He emphasized the significance of staying grounded and connected to the audience because, as an artist, it’s the people who elevate you,” reveals the young prodigy.

In 2020, as the global pandemic forced people into lockdown, El Hallani worked with his father

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57 30 UNDER 30 • AL WALID EL HALLANI

I

often sing cover songs together,” remembers El Hallani. “One day, I sang a ‘mawal’ to her, and she was so impressed that she insisted our father should hear me. Nervous about his reaction, I first approached my mom for her opinion. She encouraged me to share my singing with my father.” He needn’t have worried. Assi immediately recognized his son’s potential. “He once said to me, ‘Your voice is like an oud, made of the most resonant wood and the finest strings; all it needs is just fine-tuning,’” El Hallani adds.

Accompanying his father to studio sessions and concerts, Al Walid’s passion and dedication to music blossomed. He looked up to his father as a musical mentor, fueling his desire to express himself through music and inspiring him to follow in his footsteps while carving his own path.

As he tried to break into the industry, El Hallani initially faced some harsh criticism on social media from people who felt that he was abusing his position as the son of a famous singer, but a defining moment came in 2018 when he appeared as a contestant on the Arab world’s version of

UNDER

BY THE NUMBERS

Egyptian

30 UNDER 30 • AL WALID EL HALLANI

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Al Walid’s passion and dedication to music blossomed thanks to his father, Assi Al Hallani, who was his musical mentor.

on the track “Galatli,” with the elder creative force composing the song. It went on to become his most popular single so far.

In the same year, El Hallani was also recognized as an “Arab Male Rising Artist” at the Nagm El Arab Festival in Egypt.

In addition to his success in the studio, Al Walid is a force to be reckoned with on stage. He has performed in concerts like Nickelodeon KCA, Arab Music Festival, and Arabian Night and made a special appearance during Riyadh Season with his father, leaving a lasting impact on his live audiences. His stage presence and powerful performances have solidified his reputation as a live performer, drawing in crowds from various corners of the world. Fellow artists, too, are increasingly impressed. “Al Walid is an exceptional artist, and he has proven his prowess F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

as a remarkable Arab singer,” says Lebanese musician Maestro Elie Alia. “With his dedication and passion, I am confident that Al Walid is destined to become an even more prominent star in the music industry, enchanting audiences worldwide.”

Recently, Al Walid released two new songs, “Bhebik Men Albi” and “Chou Hal Hala,” and he says that more music is on its way as he continues to work on self-improvement and embracing and explore new ideas. “No one should ever stop believing in his/ her vision; despite facing obstacles and regardless of how many people attempt to bring you down, it is crucial to stay focused on your talent and persistently work on yourself to reach your dreams,” El Hallani emphasizes. “This is just the beginning of my career, and there’s much more to come in this exciting journey.”

Count 44

Saudi

15

Lebanese

14

Emirati

13

Jordanian

10

Indian

9

Moroccan

7

Palestinian

6

Bahrain

5

Iraqi

3

Tunisian

3

Syrian

3

Kuwaiti

2

Russian

2

Yemeni

2

Algerian

1

Armenian

1

Canadian

1

French

1

Irish

1

Qatari

1

Swiss

1

Residency

Count

U.A.E.

43

Egypt

36

Saudi Arabia

14

Lebanon

9

Jordan

6

Bahrain

5

Palestine

5

Morocco

4

Qatar

3

U.S.

3

Canada

2

France

2

Iraq

2

Kuwait

2

Tunisia

2

U.K.

2

Yemen

2

Algeria

1

Germany

1

Spain

1 NOVEMBER 2023

IMAGE FROM AL WALID EL HALLANI SOCIAL MEDIA

Nationalities

Exhibition | Conference | Networking

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Mark your calendars for

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NOVEMBER 2023

59

ENTERTAINMENT

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• Amna and Hamda Al Qubaisi, 22; 20 Occupation: Racing drivers Nationality: Emirati Residence: U.A.E. The Al Qubaisi sisters currently compete in the F1 Academy for MP Motorsport.

Amna, the older sister, was the first Emirati and female racer to compete in the Formula 4 U.A.E. Championship 2019, having been the first female Arab to win a single-seater race. Hamda made history by becoming the first female racer to claim a podium in the Italian F4 Championship 2021.

In the same year, she finished fourth in F4 U.A.E.

• Azzedine Ounahi, 22 Occupation: Footballer Nationality: Moroccan Residence: France

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• Abdullah and Abdulaziz Bakr, 28; 28 Occupation: Cofounders of The Saudi Reporters Nationality: Saudi Residence: Saudi Arabia

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

The twin Saudi YouTubers launched their own channel, “Saudi Reporters,” in 2010. They had attracted 8.7 million subscribers and more than 1.7 billion views as of October 2023. The duo has collaborated with companies, including Netflix, Disney, Google, Coca-Cola, New Balance, Samsung, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Crocs, Montblanc, Lacoste, Loewe, PepsiCo, Unilever, Snapchat, Meta, and TikTok. They’ve also created their own clothing brand, Jaheeez, and have each achieved Guinness World Records, along with other Arab YouTubers, for having the highest number of live viewers on YouTube during Ramadan 2020.

• Ali Ammar Rubaiawi, 18 Occupation: Weightlifter Nationality: Iraqi Residence: Iraq Rubaiawi won a gold medal at the Asian Junior Championships in the Men’s 109kg category in July 2022. In May 2022, he placed second at the 2022 IWF Junior World Championships in the same category. In May 2023, he won a snatch gold medal in the 109 kg category in the Asian weightlifting championship qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympics. He is currently ranked second in the world for juniors in the 2023 Annual World Ranking of the IWF.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY MUSTAPHA AZAB FOR FORBES MIDDLE EAST

30 30

Ounahi played a crucial role in Morocco’s historic journey to the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. His performance caught the attention of Olympique de Marseille, who signed him in January 2023 from Angers SCO for $8.5 million, plus $2.1 million in bonuses as well as a percentage of a future sellon fee. Born in Casablanca, Ounahi played in his home country from 2010 to 2018 before joining his first French club, RC Strasbourg.

• Ahmad Haffar, 28 Occupation: Managing Partner of Mindloop Studios Nationality: Lebanese Residence: U.A.E.

• Ahmed Emad Eldin, 26

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Ahmad Haffar

Al Walid El Hallani

Occupation: Artist Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt Eldin designed Pink Floyd’s “The Endless River” album cover art. He has created more than 50 official art and movie posters for films, along with visuals for commercial campaigns, book covers, and album art. Eldin’s artwork has been featured in exhibits worldwide, including Doges Palace, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sotheby’s Gallery, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. He is the official Wacom Arabic Ambassador in the Middle East and Africa, a Platinum Award holder from BPI, and an Oniros Film Awards winner for the Heavy Rain film poster.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MUSTAPHA AZAB FOR FORBES MIDDLE EAST

• Al Walid El Hallani, 22 Occupation: Singer Nationality: LebaneseAmerican Residence: Lebanon El Hallani’s song “Zeffo El Amar” garnered over six million views on YouTube in four months. He had over 57.7 million views on YouTube, 20.4 million plays on Anghami, and more than 322,000 monthly listeners on Spotify as of November 2023.

His most popular song, “Galatli,” has been viewed more than 8.2 million times on YouTube in three years. Al Walid is the son of the famous Lebanese singer Assi El Hallani.

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

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Haffar is known as “the voice of Dubai.” He has crafted music for 71 companies and recorded voiceovers for 100 brands, including more than 20 government brands. A school dropout, Haffar has been a partner in the audio production house “Mindloop Studios” since 2017. He also built an academy that teaches skills for creative media and partnered with STARZPLAY to develop his first comedy show.

• Amro Maskoun, 24

Abajora since 2017, an Arabic podcast on Emirates Airline.

Occupation: YouTuber Nationality: Syrian-French Residence: U.A.E.

Occupation: Singer Nationality: MoroccanCanadian Residence: Canada

Amro Maskoun

Inspired by the Moroccan and Arabic music of her childhood, Ouihya’s song “RIP, Love” has garnered over 107 million worldwide streams since its release in March 2022. With over 1.1 billion global streams to date, she has a combined social reach of over 11 million followers. The Moroccanborn, Canadian-raised singer was named one of Variety’s “Artists to Watch for the 2022 Grammys.”

• Bassant Hemida, 26 Occupation: Sprinter Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt

Hemida won a gold medal in the women’s 200-meter race at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games in 2023, achieving a new national record of 22.41 seconds. She also earned two gold medals in the 100-meter and 200-meter-race at the Mediterranean Games in 2022, making her the first-ever Egyptian athlete to win gold in the 100-meter sprint. Hemida was appointed as an ambassador for the UN global initiative Generation Unlimited in Egypt, Shabab Balad.

• Dania Moussa, 29 Occupation: Scriptwriter, Director, and Author Nationality: Syrian Residence: U.A.E.

Moussa is a scriptwriter, director, media consultant, and published author. From 2021 to October 2023, she worked as a Creative Content Development Manager at VIU MENA, a video streaming provider, where she reviewed, evaluated, selected, and developed original creative content for the platform. Her script, “Al-Yaquobya,” won the best screenplay prize at the International Original Narrative Students Film Festival in Dubai in 2014. Moussa also wrote, produced, and directed the second season of the podcast “Juha” for Finyal Media. She has been co-writing Podcast F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Faouzia Ouihya

NOVEMBER 2023

AMRO MASKOUN BY MUSTAPHA AZAB FOR FORBES MIDDLE EAST, FAOUZIA OUIHYA/ IMAGE FROM SOURCE

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Maskoun bagged the first “Middle Eastern Social Media Star 2021” award at the fanvoted 2021 People’s Choice Awards and the award for Favourite Arab Star at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards in 2023. He is a brand ambassador for Fenty Beauty, Michael Kors, Centrepoint, Turkish Airlines, Ole Henriksen, and TUMI. He was one of the influencers in the Middle East chosen by Meta to be part of its “Creators of Tomorrow” campaign. Maskoun had over 5.2 million Instagram followers and 4.6 million YouTube subscribers as of October 2023.

• Faouzia Ouihya, 22

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• Hana Goda, 15

T7D Gaming, Maiza became the Managing Director of the business unit, which is leading the operations of the mother company in the Maghreb Region and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Occupation: Table Tennis player Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt

• Jad Hobeika, 27

Occupation: Co-creative Director of Maison Georges Hobeika Nationality: Lebanese Residence: France Hobeika joined Maison Georges Hobeika in 2019 and was officially announced as Co-Creative Director alongside his father, Georges Hobeika, in June 2022.

His first collection for the maison was the Couture Fall/Winter 2019-2020. His second was in 2021, when the maison launched its first official ready-to-wear SS22 collection through a virtual runway show. Maison Georges Hobeika has dressed celebrities, including Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga, Heidi Klum, Ashley Graham, Cardi B, Alessandra Ambrosio, Rita Ora, and Jennifer Lopez.

Khoubaib Kouas

• Husein Alireza, 29 Occupation: Rower Nationality: Saudi Residence: Saudi Arabia

Alireza was the first Saudi to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in rowing and reached the quarterfinals. He also won a bronze medal at the Asian Rowing Indoor Championships in 2019. He became an ambassador of Cartier and was recently appointed ambassador of the NGO Peace & Sport. He is currently preparing for the Paris 2024 Olympics and was elected as a member of the OCA Athletes' Commission in October 2023. After the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Alireza was appointed to the Athletes Commission for the Riyadh 2034 Asian Games and the Athletes Committee of the Saudi Olympic Committee by the Saudi Minister of Sports.

• Julyana Al-Sadeq, 28 Occupation: Taekwondo player Nationality: Jordanian Residence: Jordan

Al-Sadeq became the first Jordanian and Arab woman to top the World Taekwondo rankings following her victory at the Saudi Grand Prix in December 2022.

Currently ranked as the world number two, she won gold medals in 2021 and 2022. She won a silver medal at the World Taekwondo Championships in 2023 in the Women’s 67kg category. She took silver in Rome and won a gold medal at the 2022 WT President’s Cup- Asian Region.

• Houcem Maiza, 27 Occupation: Managing Director of T7D Gaming Nationality: Tunisian Residence: Tunisia

Maiza cofounded Galactech in 2019, a Tunisian gaming startup that allows gamers in the country to access international gaming premium services. The company expanded to the U.A.E. and had more than 200,000 registered gamers in 2022. In early 2023, Galactech was acquired by GBarena, an online esports platform, for a $15 million share swap deal. Maiza was the co-CEO of the new parent company, “GBarena,” until June 2023.

After Galactech rebranded to F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

• Khoubaib Kouas, 29 Occupation: YouTuber Nationality: Algerian Residence: Algeria

Jad Hobeika

Kouas is a YouTuber and travel enthusiast, having traveled to 47 countries across four continents.

His YouTube channel has over 104.5 million views and 1.8 million subscribers, while he has 2.2 million followers on Instagram and 3.8 million followers on Facebook as of October 2023. He won a Best Tourism Content Creator Award on Facebook from the Arab Union for Tourist Media in 2023.

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Goda began playing table tennis at the age of four, and in 2022, at the age of 14, she became the youngest winner of a Continental Cup title by winning the women’s singles championship at the ITTFAfrica Cup. In September 2023, Goda won the women’s singles at the 2023 ITTF African Championships and qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

She was ranked second in the International Table Tennis Federation’s U-17 Girls’ Singles and 31st in the Women’s Singles as of October 2023.

65

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• Magdi Moussa; Mohamed El-Abiad, 27; 29

Moschino, Marchesa, Antonio Marras, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Carolina Herrera. It has also collaborated with global partners such as Microsoft, Mattel, and Netflix. Aqra previously led a collaboration between the Arab Fashion Council and the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode to enable Arab designers to showcase their creativity at Paris Fashion Week.

The Arab Fashion Council also founded the Dubai Fashion Week along with the Dubai Design District (d3).

Occupation: Cofounders of IMMRSV Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt Former college mates Moussa and El Abiad launched their innovation studio in Edtech and Fintech, IMMRSV, in 2017. Today, it leads edtech initiatives for brands such as Udacity, Meta, UNDP, the African Union, Misk Academy, ITIDA, and the Saudi Central Bank.

Notable initiatives include One Million Arab Coders, which was led by the Dubai Future Foundation, Udacity, the Egypt FWD initiative with the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and the Next Coders Initiative. IMMRSV is present in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Oman, Nigeria, Kenya, Cameroon, Ghana, South Africa, and Pakistan.

• Mayar Sherif, 26

Occupation: Tennis player Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Spain Sherif was ranked 31st in the women’s singles world rankings in June 2023, the highest rank achieved by an Egyptian tennis player since former Egyptian champion Ismail El Shafei, who was ranked 34th in the world in 1975. Born in Egypt with Spanish roots, Sherif was the first Egyptian woman to play in a Grand Slam tournament and the first to win the Hologic WTA Tour title. In 2023, she won her sixth WTA 125 title of her career. Sherif’s career record includes 16 singles titles and seven doubles titles.

• Mohammed Aqra, 29 Occupation: Cofounder and Chief Strategy Officer of Arab Fashion Council Nationality: JordanianAmerican Residence: U.A.E. Aqra is the cofounder of the Arab Fashion Council, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to establishing a comprehensive fashion system, the Pipeline, unifying the 22 Arab countries. The Arab Fashion Council has collaborated with renowned international fashion designers such as Iris van Herpen,

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

• Molham Krayem, 27 Occupation: Founder and Managing Director of Meteor Media Group Nationality: Saudi Residence: Saudi Arabia

Mohammed Aqra

Noor Shihab

Krayem founded Meteor Media Group, a Saudi entertainment company with sub-brands Sand Circus and Insomnia Records. They collaborated with brands such as L’Oréal, MDLBEAST, and Nana and created songs for brands, including McDonald’s, Amazon, NESCAFÉ, and Samsung. The group also works with Netflix, stc, PepsiCo, Spotify, Careem, and Reebok. The total deal value of Meteor Media Group grew by 214% between 2020 and 2021 and 114% between 2021 and 2022. Krayem is a Saudi A-Pop artist with hit singles like "Khayali", "Ana Leeki," and "Rayeh,” with 3.7 million views on YouTube as of October 2023.

• Noor Shihab, 28 Occupation: Founder and Managing Director of Brodmann Nationality: Iraqi Residence: Iraq Shihab founded the content creation agency Brodmann at the age of 22. Today, its notable clients include Nestlé, PepsiCo, Burger King Iraq, Switch, Rasheed Bank, Supercell, Zain Cash, and Baly. Brodmann executed the first 3D billboard in Iraq for the telecom company “Asiacell,” launched the first credit card in Iraq for Rasheed Bank, and led Burger King’s campaign when it launched in Iraq in 2019. The company has worked on projects with P&G, UNHCR, USAID, Jaguar Land Rover, Viber, and Iraqi Airways. Its social campaigns include Refugees Got Talent for UNHCR in Iraq in 2016.

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MOHAMMED AQRA BY MUSTAPHA AZAB FOR FORBES MIDDLE EAST, NOOR SHIHAB/ IMAGE FROM SOURCE

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won her third continental senior title at the 2023 African Championships in May 2023. Samir is currently ranked third in the 2023 Annual World Ranking of the IWF for Seniors in the 81kg category.

Occupation: YouTuber and Founder of Atnafas Creative Production Nationality: Bahraini Residence: Bahrain Farooq has 1.2 billion views and 6.7 million subscribers on YouTube, 3.8 million followers on Instagram, and 164,000 followers on Facebook as of October 2023. He is also the founder of Atnafas Creative Production, a media production company that has worked with stc, Amazon, Talabat, Huawei, UNHCR, and Toyota, among others. Farooq travels and makes short films and shows, posting them on his social media channels. His main show, “Omar Tries,” has had over a billion views.

• Sharifah Alhinai, 29 Occupation: Cofounder of The Khaleeji Art Museum and Sekka Nationality: Emirati Residence: U.A.E. Alhinai is the cofounding director of the Khaleeji Art Museum, the first digital museum dedicated to the art of the Arab Gulf States.

She also cofounded the media company Sekka in 2017. Through her ventures, she has collaborated with Emirates Airline, Expo City Dubai, Etihad Airways, Ithraeyat by the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra), and the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center, among others. The museum has collaborated with 100 artists and with the cultural advisor to the U.A.E.’s president, Zaki Nusseibeh, to showcase works from his art collection, including Picasso, Salvador Dali, Sliman Mansour, and Hassan Sharif.

• Patrick Sawaya, 28

SHARIFAH ALHINAI BY MUSTAPHA AZAB FOR FORBES MIDDLE EAST, OMAR FAROOQ/ IMAGE FROM SOURCE

Occupation: Founder of Patrick Sawaya Photography Nationality: LebaneseAmerican Residence: Lebanon

Sharifah Alhinai

Sawaya started his business in 2013. He has since worked with fashion houses, including Dior, Givenchy, Saint Laurent, Chaumet, Bulgari, and Van Cleef & Arpels. He covered Paris Fashion Week, London Fashion Week, the Cannes Film Festival, the Red Sea International Film Festival, and amfAR Gala Cannes. His portfolio includes top models such as Izabel Goulart, Naomi Campbell, Isabeli Fontana, and Arab celebrities. He has produced fashion shows and films for Elie Saab, Georges Hobeika, Rami Kadi, Zuhair Murad, and Hussein Bazaza.

• Shamma Al Kalbani, 19 Occupation: Jiu-Jitsu player Nationality: Emirati Residence: U.A.E.

• Sara Samir, 24 Occupation: Weightlifter Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt Samir won a bronze medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in the 69kg category and became the first Arab woman to ever win an Olympic weightlifting medal. She won the gold medal in the Women’s 76kg category at the IWF World Championships in 2022 and 2023, held in Colombia and Saudi Arabia, respectively. She F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Omar Farooq

Al Kalbani became the first woman from the U.A.E. and the youngest Emirati to win a medal at the Adults Jiu-Jitsu World Championships after bagging two bronze medals at the 2022 World Games.

She is currently the world’s top adult female Jiu-Jitsu player in the 63kg category as of October 2023. She won gold medals at the Adults Asian Championship in 2022 and 2023, and she won three gold medals at the World Championships in the under-21 category. She also earned a gold medal at the World Championships 2023 for adults.

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• Omar Farooq, 28

• Sofyan Amrabat, 26 Occupation: Footballer Nationality: Moroccan Residence: U.K.

Sofyan Amrabat

• Wegz, 24 Occupation: Rapper Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt

Zineb Wakrim

Ahmed Ali, known as “Wegz,” started his career in 2017. In 2022, he was named Spotify’s most-streamed Arab artist in MENA and Egypt’s moststreamed artist for the third year in a row. His song “ElBakht” was Egypt’s and the region’s top-streamed song, followed by “B3oda Ya Belady” and “Keify Keda,” coming in fourth and tenth in Egypt, respectively.

ElBakht was also the most streamed Arabic song on Anghami in 2022, with 45 million plays across 11 MENA countries, breaking the record for the highest number of streams ever recorded in a single year. Wegz has 3.5 million subscribers on YouTube, with over 875 million views as of October 2023.

• Zineb Wakrim, 21 Occupation: Filmmaker Nationality: Moroccan Residence: Morocco

SOFYAN AMRABAT PHOTO BY KARIM JAAFAR / AFP

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Born in the Netherlands, Amrabat played a key role in Morocco’s historic journey to the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, playing every minute of all the matches. The 26-year-old defensive midfielder has been capped 49 times by Morocco. In September 2023, Amrabat joined Manchester United on loan from ACF Fiorentina until June 2024, subject to international clearance and registration requirements. Last season, Amrabat played a key role as ACF Fiorentina reached the final of the Coppa Italia and UEFA Europa Conference League.

In 2023, Wakrim was the first female Moroccan filmmaker to be selected at the Cannes Film Festival. Her short film Ayyur (Moon) won the third prize in the 2023 La Cinef, held as part of the 76th Cannes Film Festival.

Wakrim is also a visual artist and psychology student. She studied at ESAV Marrakech, a higher education institution for film and visual arts.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY MUSTAPHA AZAB FOR FORBES MIDDLE EAST

NEW ENERGY

Ali Makki, Cofounder of Kilimanjaro Energy, is building a sustainable energy ecosystem, blending the best in Chinese tech with the boundless potential of Africa and the Middle East.

BY HANNAH STEWART

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Ali Makki works fast. Without so much as a plan down on paper, the Emirati entrepreneur says he secured almost $1 million from an angel investor in early 2023 and soon found himself delving into sustainable energy initiatives in the heart of Africa. Within six months, Kilimanjaro Energy (KME) was up and running—a business that combines his passion for the continent with a determination to build a sustainable future. Now, the group CEO and executive director says he is driving a pipeline of ventures and preparing to close $15 million in funding, less than a year since it all began.

For Makki, time is of the essence. “We can’t last more generations like this,” he insists, reflecting on the state of the planet. Through Kilimanjaro Energy, he intends to make a difference and build a business at the frontline of the green transition.

The Dubai-based company offers services right across the energy value chain, from waste processing and renewable energy production to mining, technology, and project funding, all with a sustainable edge. The KME team is small but powerful, with six employees bringing expertise to projects concentrated mainly in sub-Saharan Africa—a place Makki has adored since childhood—with technology and equipment sourced from partners in China.

“In phase one, our primary focus has been to offer world-class guidance and expertise in both business and project advisory, specifically in sustainable energy,” explains the entrepreneur who also works part-time for the U.A.E.’s AMEA Power. But KME does not operate on the periphery; it is all in, buying projects that have hit financial or technical walls and pushing them up to financial close.

Already, the nascent company is gaining momentum. KME’s current activities include two 100MW solar projects and a copper dump and mine processing facilities in southern Africa, as well as a green hydrogen (GH2) project with a Chinese partner to develop electrolyzer capacity.

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“WE HAVE A VERY STRONG TEAM, WE HAVE A VERY STRONG PLAN, AND WE KNOW WHERE WE’RE HEADING.” several African countries import fuel at high prices, which increases the cost of electricity generation. And third, the continent’s economies are growing fast.

“Africa is considered the next growth frontier globally.

This will lead to a significant increase in demand for energy, which must be met in a sustainable manner for environmental and economic reasons,” he says.

According to market analysis from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), large swathes of Africa have been left out of the green energy transition, with just 2% of global investments in renewables over the past 20 years channeled to the continent. But progress is slowly being made. A 2022 report from IRENA states that renewable energy deployment has grown in the last decade, with more than 26 gigawatts of renewables-based generation capacity added.

Meanwhile, average annual investments in the sector grew from less than $0.5 billion between 2000-2009 to $5 billion in the period 2010-2020.

With partners and projects straddling both China and southern Africa, KME is positioning itself for

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For Makki, China is the undisputed leader in technology; KME sources both equipment and tech solutions from partners in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and beyond. Hong Kong has been integral to the startup’s success, too, this time on the financial side. As KME was finding its feet, the executive director traveled to the East Asian metropolis more times than he can remember, forging ties with decision-makers at Integrated Capital, global investment company Tsangs Group, and Hong Kong Ambassadors Club, among other organizations.

Andre Kwok, Chief of Staff at Tsangs Group, recalls his first encounter with Makki. “We met each other at a business dinner. At that time, Ali was still working with AMEA Power, but when he started his own venture, we began exploring synergies,” he explains.

As for Africa, Makki’s focus does not just stem from his love of the continent; it makes business sense. According to Adnan Merhaba, Partner within the Energy and Utilities practice at Arthur D. Little Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa has significant green potential for three main reasons. First, the continent is blessed with an abundance of solar resources. Second,

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success, but its sustainable impact transcends national borders—its involvement in carbon credits is a case in point. Specifically, Makki and his team are collaborating on a project with the Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) and developing a digital carbon trading platform to enhance liquidity and transparency in the market.

“The carbon credit exchange project is nothing short of revolutionary,” says Habiba Al Mar’ashi, Cofounder and Chairperson of EEG. “Makki’s brainchild simplifies the process of investing in eco-friendly initiatives that generate valuable carbon credits and redefines the way we think about sustainability and environmental responsibility.”

“THE WHOLE ATTITUDE IN RENEWABLE ENERGY IS ‘LET’S WORK TOGETHER RATHER THAN AGAINST EACH OTHER’ – ESPECIALLY HERE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.” But for EEG’s founder, there is more to Ali Makki than business success. “His journey is not solely defined by professional triumphs; it’s characterized by a profound desire to contribute meaningfully to the world,” she says.

At KME, meaningful contribution has a financial side. In what Makki describes as “phase two” of KME’s journey, the company is developing an incubator called KME ECO to allocate capital to energy-focused investment opportunities. “The incubator is meticulously designed to orchestrate project development that not only addresses energy security but also tackles socio-economic concerns,” says the entrepreneur who graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a degree in renewable energy engineering. KME’s funding arm is owned by five main stakeholders, with two further stakeholders on the advisory side.

Specifically, phase two centers on fundraising $15 million for a 15% equity stake in the company. While investors are yet to sign on the dotted line, Makki says final discussions are underway with a number of groups.

As the raise nears completion, his sights are set on a new office in the Abu Dhabi Global Market, growing his team, and moving ahead with projects across Africa as well as the Middle East.

From funding to advisory, the entrepreneur is clear in his direction, but there is an element of destiny to his story. As he sees it, he did not choose his path; the path chose him. His philosophical stance was recently F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

reinforced after reading Paolo Coelho’s The Alchemist from cover to cover on a flight to Johannesburg. “You should listen to the signs that the universe gives you because it’s so much deeper than we realize,” he advises.

Confidence has also played a part in Makki’s success.

Before launching KME, he strode into the chairman’s office at AMEA Power to pitch a renewable energy solution – a move that he believes secured him a job.

He also managed to convince his angel investor to trust in him before he had an office, a project, or even a company name. Stopping short of revealing her identity, Makki hints that she is credited with launching a stock market. KME’s founder points to the power of his network, too. As a member of the Dubai Chamber and U.A.E. Chamber, he gains rare access to government officials and government deals.

Still in his 20s, the Emirati has achieved more than many his age, but his journey has not been straightforward. After graduating from Pennsylvania State University, he returned to Dubai and started multiple ventures: one in technology that he sums up as “right product, wrong time,” one in retail, and one involving fundraising for smart city development.

According to the business founder, the latter dealt him a financial blow, plunging his morale to an all-time low.

It was then that the call came from AMEA’s chairman with the words, ‘You start on Monday, ’ kicking off his adventure into the world of renewable energy. “I was given a chance. It reignited my drive and brought me back to where I was supposed to be, with people who shared the same values,” says Makki.

With the chairman and his angel investor still close mentors, the executive director is determined to make a sustainable impact – and where others see competition, he sees collaboration. “The whole attitude in renewable energy is ‘let’s work together rather than against each other’ – especially here in the Middle East,” he explains.

With the world now rooting for sustainability, Makki’s fears for the planet are matched by optimism about the power of collaboration. So far, KME has cultivated relationships with stakeholders across continents, and the startup is among the first 10 companies in the U.A.E. Independent Climate Change Accelerators’ Carbon Alliance.

Now, Makki is ready to enter a new year the same way he approached 2023: with energy. “We have measured out the next seven years of our business,” says Makki.

“We have a very strong team, we have a very strong plan, and we know where we’re heading.”

The hopes of new generations rest on the changemakers of today, and Ali Makki is rising to the challenge, shaking up the energy landscape from the deserts of Dubai to the peaks and plains of Africa.

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• Abanob Gamal; Fady Ibrahim, 28; 27 Occupation: Cofounders of Cropsa Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt Gamal and Ibrahim help connect suppliers with traders and farms through their agri-tech venture, Cropsa. The company has facilitated the process of buying and selling wholesale agricultural raw materials and animal farm inputs for 150,000 farmers.

Gamal participated in practical research to develop technology for extracting active ingredients used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and organic food industries from medicinal and aromatic plants rather than exporting them as raw materials. This technology simplifies and accelerates the extraction process while lowering costs.

• Abdullah Alhebshi, 28 Occupation: Cofounder and COO of Bazzarry for trading Nationality: Yemeni Residence: Yemen Bazzarry.com provides access to over 20,000 products and 1,000 brands from 500 local suppliers.

It has over 25,000 registered users and has secured $750,000 in funding to date. It currently operates in Yemen but is registered in the U.A.E., with plans to expand to Egypt. It grew by more than 120% from July to August in 2023.

• Abdulrahman Qumsani; Abdulrahman Bin Nujayfan, 27; 26

• Amr Kawashty; Ezz In Your Shoe is a direct-to-consumer fashion brand. It has more than 75 product lines and seven stores across Egypt. Kawashty and Tarek , 27; 28 Tarek are currently in negotiations with their mall partner, Majid Al Occupation: Cofounders of In Your Shoe Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt

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Futtaim, to open a flagship store in Egypt, as well as popup stores in the U.A.E. In Your Shoe currently has over 90,000 customers and has sold approximately 400,000 pieces in 20 countries, with most sales from Egypt and GCC. It has more than 52 clients, including Starbucks, Amazon, Dell, Redbull, Coca-Cola, Vodafone, and Orange.

Mthmr is a personal finance management platform that helps MENA residents manage their savings. In August, the company raised $1.6 million in funding from Wa’ed Ventures, Dahran Trading Group, and Le Augure, alongside a group of supportive angel investors, bringing its total funding to $2 million to date.

Qumsani also founded Gharsa, a non-profit organization in the environmental protection area, and has led environmental campaigns in collaboration with Emaar, The Economic City (EEC) and Saudi’s Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture.

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Occupation: Cofounders of Mthmr Nationality: Saudi Residence: Saudi Arabia

• Ahmed Abdeen, 29

focused on environmental conservation. He is also involved in projects like the Coral Reef Restoration Project for COP28 and the Mangrove Tree Planting Project in the U.A.E.

Abdeen cofounded ElGameya in 2019 to digitize money circles or rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCA), widely known as “Gameya” in Arab countries. It currently has more than 250,000 users, with a goal to achieve a million users by the end of 2024. It also offers a school tuition fee model, partnering with over 90 schools. The company launched an “Ambassadors Module” initiative to help women in rural areas earn additional income by becoming ambassadors and establishing their own ROSCA. It plans to expand into Saudi Arabia through a partnership with a Saudi bank.

• Alexandre Boulenger, 29

• Aysha Abdulmalek; Abdulaziz Abdulmalek, 26; 24 Occupation: Cofounders of Aisha Jewels Nationality: Bahraini Residence: Bahrain Aysha and her brother Abdulaziz launched their business in 2014 when she was only 17 years old. The company achieved an average annual growth of 43.2% in the last three years. Aisha Jewels has sold over $350,000 worth of pieces under the Atta’a initiative in the last three years, raising over $180,000 for charity. For the last two years, Aisha Jewels has been the main sponsor for the Bahraini version of Cloud of Hope, which aims to help children conquer the fear of hospital. In 2022, Aysha was chosen by Bahrain’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce to represent the kingdom at the Expo 2020 Dubai.

Ali Makki

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Occupation: Cofounder and CEO of Genify Nationality: French Residence: U.A.E. Boulenger helps provide an API universe (software as a service application programming interface) for personal finance management and credit scoring through Genify. The APIs are offered to banks, lenders, and Fintechs. Launched in 2019, the company works with clients, including Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and Commercial Bank International, and is backed by Mubadala’s Hub71 in Abu Dhabi. Boulenger has also developed a carbon accounting system and tailored it to the U.A.E.

• Angad Kohli; Sanjeet Sahni, 28; 28 Occupation: Cofounders of Swing Capital Nationality: Indian Residence: U.A.E.

• Ali Makki , 27 Occupation: Cofounder and Group CEO of Kilimanjaro Energy Nationality: Emirati Residence: U.A.E. Makki leads Kilimanjaro Energy, which currently has 5 GW of prospective projects, including the development of two photovoltaic projects in South Africa. The first is a 100 MW PV venture, and the second is a 150 MW PV facility. Makki also cofounded Rotaract Bur Dubai, where he engages in initiatives F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Alexandre Boulenger

Kohli and Sahni founded Swing Capital in 2022, a venture capital firm that helps entrepreneurs in the sports, media, and lifestyle sectors by providing capital and industry expertise. With a fund of $20 million, it has invested in companies such as DraftKings, Topgolf, WHOOP, and LootMogul. It also invests in MENA-based startups, including Grintafy, Matbakhi, and Bith.TV, with an investment range between $250,000 and $1 million. Swing Capital has partnerships with the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, the Saudi Ministry of Sports, the Dubai Sports Council, SRJ Sports Investments, Monsha’at, and Qatar Sports Investments.

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Occupation: Cofounder and CEO of ElGameya Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt

• Anastasia Denisova, 23

right financial products.

It has formed around 12 partnerships with financial institutions and crypto exchange platforms in Bahrain, including the National Bank of Bahrain, ila Bank, and Rain. It had 11,000 downloads and has secured funds from Spring Studios.

Occupation: CEO of Realiste MENA and Partner in Realiste Holding Group Nationality: Russian Residence: U.A.E. Denisova leads Realiste, a platform that facilitates investments in real estate by private and institutional investors. Leveraging advanced AI algorithms, it curates and ranks investment opportunities based on factors such as projected ROI, growth forecasts, infrastructure trends, and future market dynamics.

As of September 2023, the platform had over 50,000 users. It has closed over 300 deals since the beginning of 2023, averaging 1.3 transactions per day.

• Alok Kumar, 28 Occupation: Cofounder and CEO of Zywa Nationality: Indian Residence: U.A.E. Zywa was founded by Kumar and Nuha Hashem in 2021 to offer a gamified community-based banking app and payment card to users aged 10 to 25 years old. It operates in the U.A.E. and Egypt and plans to expand to Saudi Arabia. It has raised over $4 million in funding from investors such as Y Combinator, Goodwater Capital, Rebel Fund, ZEMU VC, Hub71, Trampoline VP, and the Dubai Future District Fund. Zywa has acquired more than 130,000 signups, which has translated to over 40,000 accounts. Its notable partners include Mastercard, Saudi Awwal Bank, Alinma Bank, Banque Misr, and the Al Futtaim Group.

• Dania Alshowaikh, 25 Occupation: Cofounder of Daleel Nationality: Bahraini Residence: Bahrain Daleel is a financial marketplace that allows customers to search, compare, and find the F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

• Diala Khashan; Majd Taweel, 29; 23 Occupation: Cofounders of Vatrin Nationality: JordanianPalestinian; Palestinian Residence: Palestine

Anastasia Denisova

Diala Khashan; Majd Taweel

Vatrin is a social marketplace that allows small businesses to set up websites to facilitate online orders, manage inventory, and accept payments.

It raised $500,000 in its first investment round from the Ibtikar Fund and an additional $250,000 from the World Bank as a co-investment matching grant. It operates in Palestine, Egypt, and Iraq, with over 12,000 SMEs on board. Vatrin has more than 60,000 app downloads.

Before founding Vatrin, Khashan started her career working with NGOs such as UNRWA before working as a content manager at Palestinian startup Yamsafer.

• Hasan Jaafar, 28 Occupation: Cofounder and COO of YY ReGen Nationality: Lebanese Residence: Lebanon Jaafar focuses on renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and water solutions through his venture, YY ReGen. The company has eight operational units, including the ReGen-R8 project, a portable solar power unit that can be rented to farmers to provide them with energy as a service, in addition to an IoT system for remote monitoring purposes. Through these units, YY ReGen reduces approximately 120 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

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• Hayk Vasilyan; Maryam Hassani, 29; 26

investors, government grants, institutional investment, and family and friends.

• Jude Benhalim, 29 Occupation: Cofounder and Creative Director of Jude Benhalim Jewelry Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt

HWE develops technologies to generate and store clean energy and desalinate seawater using wind power. Its products include QuenchSea, a handheld seawater desalination device for sailors, campers, travelers, and emergency use. It has also developed two solutions, OceanHydroOmni and SubseROWind, with prototypes due to be deployed off the coast of Fujairah in late 2023 and 2024.

Benhalim established her own brand with her mother, Rana Al-Azm, in 2011, when she was 17 years old. The company currently operates three stores in Egypt and plans to open a fourth soon, as well as ship worldwide via its website. Kendall Jenner, Vanessa Hudgens, Chrissy Teigen, and Adriana Lima have all worn the brand.

• Hazem Eltawab; Ibrahim Elzayat, 27; 28 Occupation: Cofounders of ReNile Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt The cofounders of ReNile work to provide end-to-end solutions for smart farming using IoT and water, air, and soil quality management.

With solutions that include monitoring farms, emergency alerts, and analytics, they claim that ReNile helps save up to 20% in clients’ operating costs. It has over 200 clients in MENA across various sectors such as agriculture, including aquaponics, hydroponics, poultry systems, fish farming, greenhouses, and traditional farming in Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the U.A.E.

• Hiba AlMasoud, 28

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Occupation: Cofounder and Managing Partner of Sauce Capital Nationality: Emirati Residence: U.A.E., U.S. AlMasoud cofounded the foodtech startup Sauce Capital in 2020. It currently operates 17 kitchens and owns 40 food brands.

Among their brands are Chic Flick, Bu Wagyu, BWL, Laffa, Sliced, and Egg Bun. Its app, CHEW, is a marketplace that allows customers to order from multiple restaurants in a single order with one rider and one delivery fee.

With over 19,000 active users as of September 2023, Sauce Capital has secured funding through angel

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Jeffrey Henseler

Hayk Vasilyan; Maryam Hassani

• Jeffrey Henseler, 28 Occupation: Founder and CEO of Passport Legacy Nationality: Swiss Residence: U.A.E.

Henseler established Passport Legacy in 2018 as an advisory firm for obtaining a second passport and residence visa. It has six offices across the U.A.E., Singapore, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Lebanon along with offices in the Philippines and Vietnam.

In 2021, Henseler cofounded GoodWill Mozambique, where he, in partnership with the local government, provides a home for orphaned children. In 2023, Henseler cofounded Property Legacy to offer real estate projects that qualify for residency and citizenship by investment. It had sold projects valued at $5.2 million as of November 2023.

• Mahmoud Moussa, 29 Occupation: Cofounder of Hollydesk Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt Hollydesk is an expense management platform for SMEs, facilitating $7 million in spending in its first year. It has secured $1.4 million in funding, including $400,000 in equity and $1 million in venture debt. Moussa also founded a formula racing team that has designed, built, and manufactured multiple formula racing cars that have competed in various events at Silverstone, U.K. The team has secured sponsorships from notable brands like Exxon Mobil and Uber.

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Occupation: Cofounders of Hydro Wind Energy (HWE) Nationality: Armenian; Emirati Residence: U.A.E.

• Malak Bennani, 27

U.A.E. Libas’ GMV is growing at an average of 37% month on month. Khayat secured $500,000 in angel funding. It plans to add an AI-powered tool that helps the authentication team spot counterfeit bags.

Occupation: Cofounder and COO of LNKO Nationality: MoroccanCanadian Residence: Morocco

• Mohammad Al Eissa, 29 Occupation: Founder and CEO of Aybiz App Nationality: Kuwaiti Residence: Kuwait Al Eissa has been leading Aybiz since 2017 to help businesses manage their business, sell products, and collect analytics.

The company has 9,500 sellers, processing 13,000 orders monthly in Kuwait with 560,000 users. The CEO sold a majority stake in the business in June 2023 and is currently working on a new project called YalaShop, which aims to create readymade ecommerce applications for clients in less than three days.

• Rutej Mehta, 28 Occupation: Director of Investments and Head of Middle East of Unbound Nationality: Irish Residence: U.A.E.

Malak Bennani has also launched initiatives to support the Egyptian ecosystem through partnerships with the World Youth Forum, the UNDP, the International Labour Organization, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. It provides consultancy services to companies, including Egypt’s Rabbit, Saudi’s Rasmal, and India’s Ninjacart, among others.

• Paolo Khayat, 24 Occupation: Cofounder and CEO of Libas Nationality: Lebanese Residence: U.A.E. Libas is a social marketplace for buying and selling authentic pre-owned designer pieces. It was established in Lebanon in 2022 before expanding to the

Mehta is the Director of Investments and Head of the Middle East at Unbound, an international venture capital fund backed by Bharti Global and a prominent sovereign wealth fund.

He previously assisted in building out Dubai Holding’s venture and funding arm, managing flagship portfolio companies, including Merex Investment Group, a $1.4 billion joint venture between Dubai Holding and Brookfield Asset Management, and Warsan WtE. Before moving to the Middle East, he was a senior investment professional at the hedge fund Gatemore Capital Management in London.

Mohamed Ehab; Omar Rezk; Menna Zaghloul

• Mohamed Ehab; Omar Rezk; Menna Zaghloul, 27; 27; 29 Occupation: Cofounders of Entlaq Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt Ehab, Rezk, and Zaghloul cofounded Entlaq as an accelerator program and consultancy services firm.

It launched its programs in January 2023 to focus on early-stage to pre-seed startups with two annual cohorts. Each cohort features a four to sixmonth acceleration program with an investment ticket of up to $50,000 per startup. Entlaq

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Bennani cofounded an eyewear brand with her sister Maha in 2020. Today, the company has 12 points of sale and plans to open three stores in Morocco by the end of 2023. It has over 70,000 clients across 24 countries.

LNKO is currently expanding in the West African market and is active in seven countries, including Morocco, Senegal, the Ivory Coast, Guinea, Congo, DRC, and Mauritania. It has raised $1 million in funding from CDG Invest (Morocco’s pension fund), Sanabil 500 MENA Seed Accelerator, and Launch Africa.

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• Shahad Geoffrey, 28

Occupation: Cofounder of Amwal Tech Nationality: Saudi Residence: Saudi Arabia

Occupation: Cofounder and CEO of TAFFI Nationality: Saudi Residence: Saudi Arabia

Amwal Tech provides frictionless biometric authentication solutions. Its first product is a biometric one-click checkout that enhances the checkout experience for e-commerce websites. It also combines identity verification, fraud prevention, and payment acceptance in a single API. It’s working with over 30 clients, including La3eb, Paris Gallery, Baytonia, and Homzmart, and has signed partnerships with businesses such as Unifonic, Tap Company, and Salla. Amwal Tech has more than 150,000 registered users and has raised a pre-seed round of $2.5 million.

Taffi is an AI-powered SAAS “Styling as a Service” platform for fashion stores in MENA. It has raised $2.1 million in funding in a round jointly led by Al-Rashed Group and Impact46. It currently operates in the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia with 25 stores onboard. Taffi has recently unveiled Amira, an AI-powered fashion stylist assistant offering hyper-personalized style consultations and shoppable recommendations.

• Saeed Talaat; Youssef Galal; Hashim Ibrahim; Walid Abou ElNour, 28; 27; 27; 25 Occupation: Cofounders of Klickit

• Tarannum Malik, 29

Shahad Geoffrey

Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt Klickit offers a fee management system for educational institutions. It works in six countries across Africa and the GCC and has partnered with the Ministry of Education in Egypt to be

the official fee management platform. It’s currently working with more than 55,000 public schools and 400 private and international schools, serving over 25 million students in Egypt. The startup has helped increase public schools’ collection rate by almost 1,000%.

Saeed Talaat; Youssef Galal; Hashim Ibrahim; Walid Abou ElNour

Occupation: Cofounder and Managing Director of Al Aliyo Hydrofarms Nationality: Indian Residence: U.A.E. Malik cofounded the hydroponic fodder farming company, Al Aliyo Hydrofarms, which has a facility that spans across two industrial warehouses, boasting a combined area of 12,000 square feet. It cultivates a diverse range of hydroponic produce, including fodder for livestock, garlic greens, spring onions, microgreens, pickles, and spices. Its fodder production capacity of 15,000 kilograms daily has the capacity to sustain either 7,500 goats and sheep or 2,500 cows. It plans to expand into Kenya and Ethiopia.

• Youssef Chokri; Mohamed Ferjani, 28; 28 Occupation: Cofounders of Segurta.tn Nationality: Tunisian Residence: U.S., Tunisia

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Segurta.tn is a nonprofit initiative that promotes financial literacy and insurance. It allows users to view information about their insurance policies, chat with a friendly chatbot to ask questions about insurance, and receive reminders to pay their insurance premiums. Chokri and Ferjani plan to expand their initiative and are considering introducing a subscription fee for the app based on a “pay as you wish” model with a minimum amount per year of under $7.

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of 195.7 million views, 1.5 million Instagram followers, and 2.3 million TikTok followers as of October 2023.

• Abdelrazek Aly; Ramy Abdulzaher, 29; 29 Occupation: Cofounders of Bonocle Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Qatar Aly and Abdulzaher started Bonocle in 2015 after Aly had a car accident where he had to join a special needs center and interact with the blind community for the first time.

Bonocle’s portable uni-cell braille device allows blind individuals to interpret the contents of any electronic device through the medium of braille. This allows them to play games with their sighted friends and family, both in-person and online, and study and read books. After connecting to a smartphone, Bonocle converts content on the screen to braille in real time. Bonocle had raised $1.1 million in funding from angel investors, NGOs, and government organizations as of October 2023.

• Abdullah Al-Atrash, 23 Occupation: Founder and CEO of Thaely Nationality: Indian Residence: U.A.E.

brand that uses ThaelyTex to produce sustainable sneakers. Each pair is constructed from components made from 10 plastic bags and 12 plastic bottles. Since the start of 2021, Thaely has recycled over 250,000 plastic bags and 270,000 plastic bottles produced and sold over 11,000 sneakers across the globe. The company raised $1.1 million in a seed round from billionaire Anand Mahindra’s family office and Metro Brands.

• AbdelQader Al Saqqaf , 20 Occupation: U.A.E. Youth Delegate at the United Nations for 2022 Nationality: Emirati Residence: U.A.E. Al Saqqaf is one of the U.A.E.’s youngest delegates to the UN, having engaged in over 70 global summits since 2016, including the World Government Summit. He advocated for the inclusion and empowerment of youth at institutional levels and within F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

sustainable development policies and negotiated several resolutions in the General Assembly on Sustainability, Economic Affairs, and Social Development. On the topic of youth peace and security, he delivered recommendations to the member states and the UN-SG to introduce Youth Advisors to peacekeeping missions in Africa.

• Abdullah Alalawi , 28 Occupation: Founder of the Msafh Community Nationality: Saudi

Residence: Saudi Arabia Alalawi founded the Msafh Community, which offers online camps, workshops, and challenges. His projects include “The Routine of the Ninety Days,” where he shares experiences about improving quality of life and gaining new habits in 90 days and its effect on the brain through video content. He has recently published a book on the topic. Alalawi is also a dentist and social media influencer. He has over 2.3 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, with a total

Occupation: Cofounder of Natrify Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt Al-Atrash launched Natrify in 2020 to provide sustainable solutions for the bioplastic industry through biotechnology. After the commercial launch in 2022, Natrify acquired a licensee in the U.S. with a starting capacity of 1,000 tons a year to reach 70,000 tons a year by the fourth year of the contract. It is currently negotiating a license in Saudi Arabia, and two other licensees in the EU are in the pipeline. Natrify’s process enables it to enhance air quality by reducing an average of 2,450 tons of CO2 emissions for every ton of plastic production while not contributing to any microplastics.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY MUSTAPHA AZAB FOR FORBES MIDDLE EAST

is the inventor of ThaelyTex, a leather-like fabric made entirely out • Ashay Bhave , 24 Bhave of waste plastic bags. In 2020, he founded Thaely as a vegan sneaker

Through eFlow, courses are converted into short videos, images, and voice notes. eFlow aims to engage 20,000 learners by the end of 2023. It reaches learners across seven countries, including Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq, with the support of UNHCR, the Near East Foundation, and the Queen Rania Foundation.

Occupation: Founder of Egychology and Assistant Lecturer at University of Alberta Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Canada Ead has been involved in the popularization of science and educational content after launching his YouTube channel Egychology in 2014, amassing over 1.2 million subscribers and 38.3 million views as of October 2023. The channel took a break for over a year but is set to return in autumn 2023. Since 2021, Ead has also partnered with Kerning Cultures to launch the Superbly Scientific Podcast, which secured the #1 spot on Apple during its first and second seasons. The assistant teaching professor is also one of the youngest members of the University of Alberta’s teaching staff.

• Craig Fernandes, 26 Occupation: Cofounder and CEO of SecureMyScholarship Nationality: Indian Residence: U.A.E.

Evlin Khalifa

• Alaa Afifi , 29 Occupation: Founder and CEO of Bekia Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt Afifi launched Bekia in 2017 to allow users to exchange their inorganic waste—such as cans, plastics, food, oil, and metal— for cash over a mobile wallet or bank account. It has recycled over 10,000 tons of waste and collected more than 10 million plastic bottles. It has secured investment from Flat6Labs, OFT Wadi, Catalyst Fund, and Core Vision.

• Evlin Khalifa , 24 Occupation: Miss Universe Bahrain 2022 Nationality: Bahraini Residence: Bahrain

• Aly Mohamed , 29

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Occupation: Founder and CEO of Seavo Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt Mohamed founded his marine micro-mobility company, Seavo, in 2021 to create electric watercraft and marine drones.

It offers a greener alternative to traditional fuel-powered watercraft and produces 10 products, including the Orca Electric Watercraft, a batteryoperated and IoT-connected watercraft capable of speeds up to 21km/h. The company’s signature Seawatch System pairs IoT bracelets with F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Fernandes helps connect students with guaranteed fee waivers and partial scholarships at universities through his edtech platform SecureMyScholarship, which had disbursed $6.3 million in scholarships as of July 2023. It had over 10,000 monthly visitors and 100,000 students annually as of October 2023. It works with almost all private universities in the U.A.E., such as the University of Wollongong in Dubai, HeriotWatt University Dubai, University of Birmingham Dubai, and American University in Dubai, as well as 300 universities across the U.S. and the U.K. SecureMyScholarship aims to disburse $100 million in scholarships by 2026.

Bassel Jalaleddine

autonomous marine drones and monitors vitals and detects drowning events in real-time.

Seavo has partnered with KAUST to run its products, Orca and Seawatch systems, in multiple applications.

• Bassel Jalaleddine, 28 Occupation: Founder and Managing Partner of eFlow.ai

Nationality: Lebanese Residence: Lebanon Jalaleddine helped 16,000 learners through the platform he founded. eFlow is an AI-powered conversational learning platform with an interactive chatbot, offering courses through social apps such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Microsoft Teams, and Slack.

Khalifa recently became an ambassador of education between Bahrain and Russia, developing a new exchange program for students. She is also an ambassador of the charity organization Smile Train, increasing awareness of kids with cleft palates. The Bahraini-Russian model was crowned Miss Universe Bahrain in September 2022 and competed in the 71st Miss Universe pageant in January 2023, which took place in the U.S. NOVEMBER 2023

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• Fahad Al-Kaabi, 25

the Professional Computer Association of Lebanon and cofounded the MENA EdTech Alliance to connect EdTech companies, startups, and experts across the region.

Ayoub is the co-founder and lead of the Unlearn/Relearn event, which provides a platform for industry experts, educators, and students to come together and explore new ideas and emerging trends in the job market.

Occupation: Founder and Managing Director of FSSK Holding Nationality: Qatari Residence: Qatar

• Hashim Al Zaabi; Christian Gemayel , 29; 29

• Hadeer Shalaby , 29 Occupation: Cofounder and CEO of Freeziana.com Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt

Fahad Al-Kaabi

Occupation: Cofounders of The Fifth Element Nationality: Emirati; Canadian Residence: U.A.E. Al Zaabi and Gemayel joined forces to launch the Fifth Element, a consulting firm and training academy with a core focus on employment and social impact. It has partnered with government and social contribution entities to launch Emiratization programs such as Sandooq Al Watan, Al Bayt Mitwahid, Authority of Social Contribution – Ma’an, Abu Dhabi Social Support Authority, and Nafis. The company has four programs: Jusoor, Masarat, Tamkeen, and Maharah.

• Jaser Alharasees; Thaer EL Ledawi, 28; 28 Occupation: Cofounders of Robotna Nationality: Jordanian Residence: Jordan

• Hussein Ayoub, 27 Occupation: Director, MEA at EDT & Partners Nationality: Lebanese Residence: Lebanon Ayoub is the Director for the Middle East & Africa at EDT & Partners, a consulting firm specializing in transformative change in education. He founded the Youth Innovation Council in collaboration with F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Freeziana is an online marketplace where individuals and businesses can buy and sell a variety of handmade, vintage, and custom items. It has provided training to over 200,000 women in collaboration with 30 international and governmental agencies and 150 local partners, such as CARE Egypt, UN Women, UNDP, and Oxfam. Freeziana has obtained $1.4 million in grants and equity investment. Shalaby has also established several subsidiaries, including Green Fashion, which has upcycled 600 tons of waste from textile factories and 83,700 items of clothing, and Crafty Workshop, a platform for teaching creative industries remotely.

Hussein Ayoub

Alharasees and El Ledawi cofounded the edtech platform Robotna, using robots and AI to teach science and technology and integrate it into classroom curricula. It has over 50,000 direct beneficiaries across Jordan, Palestine, Syria, and Sudan. It provides these services to underserved communities by generating revenue through partnerships with private and international schools, as well as government and non-government organizations in the region.

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FAHAD AL-KAABI BY MUSTAPHA AZAB FOR FORBES MIDDLE EAST, HUSSEIN AYOUB/ IMAGE FROM SOURCE

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In 2019, Fahad partnered with the Qatar Foundation through a 15-year BOT contract to develop a sports complex.

In 2020, he launched FSSK Holding, the parent company of the Dome company, which was set up to become the owner and developer of the Qatar Foundation project and the exclusive distributor of DUOL air domes. Fahad also signed a long-term exclusive contract with AFP Courts through his newly formed entity “Innovative Sports,” which was established under FSSK. In 2022, Fahad became the exclusive distributor of adidas Padel in Saudi Arabia, forming a new JV with Global Sports Gate.

and CEO of Sparklo, a clean tech company based in the U.A.E. He created Sparklomats, AI-powered machines that collect plastic and aluminum for recycling. Today, it operates in 10 countries with over 500 installed machines.

Sparklo has collected over 37 million recyclables.

Over 300,000 users have joined the Sparklo initiative, earning rewards to pay for groceries, utility payments, and car charging, among other things. Sparklo has installed Sparklomats in partnership with LuLu Hypermarket, Carrefour, ADNOC Distribution, Accor, Averda, and BEEAH Group.

Occupation: Cofounder and CEO of Elggo Nationality: Lebanese Residence: Lebanon Makari is the cofounder and CEO of Elggo, an AI-powered mental health platform for K-12 MENA schools. In 2022, the platform developed an evidencebased curriculum tailored for MENA in collaboration with psychology practitioners, clinicians, researchers, and professors. Elggo conducted a pilot with 12,000 students, witnessing a 30% boost in well-being, as measured by the WHO-5 well-being index.

In the 2023 academic year, it has accumulated a waitlist of over 50 schools eager to implement its platform. In 2023, the platform secured angel investment, closing a pre-seed funding round.

• Marc Aoun , 29

MUSTAFA ABD ELLATIF BY MUSTAPHA AZAB FOR FORBES MIDDLE EAST, MAXIM KAPLEVICH/ IMAGE FROM SOURCE

Occupation: Cofounder and CEO of Compost Baladi SAL Nationality: Lebanese Residence: Lebanon Aoun cofounded the organic solid waste management company Compost Baladi, having launched a composting facility in 2018. To date, it has processed 4,000 tons of organic waste and produced more than 3,000 tons of organic fertilizer through the establishment of 200 facilities across Lebanon.

It has secured $400,000 in convertible notes and $500,000 in equity free. It has established branches in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Colombia while also spearheading standalone projects in Egypt and Algeria.

In 2019, Aoun established CubeX with a primary focus on wastewater management in rural and suburban areas and informal settlements.

• Maxim Kaplevich, 28 Occupation: Founder and CEO of Sparklo Nationality: Russian Residence: U.A.E. Kaplevich is the founder

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Maxim Kaplevich

Mustafa Abd Ellatif

• Mohammad Zatara, 27 Occupation: Founder and CEO of Wajeez Nationality: Jordanian Residence: Jordan Wajeez offers users audio and text summaries of non-fiction books in Arabic.

Its library consists of over 3,500 book summaries, over 5,000 podcast episodes, and 108 novels. Having launched in December 2020, it began operations in early 2021 with offices in Amman and Riyadh. As of October 2023, it had over 6.5 million downloads and $7 million in funding, including $3 million in a pre-Series A round in 2021, led by STV, Shorooq Partners, Mawdoo3, and Wise Venture.

• Mustafa Abd Ellatif, 29 Occupation: Cofounder and CEO of EYouth Nationality: Egyptian Residence: U.A.E. EYouth has more than 1.6 million learners, with over 350,000 successful jobs matched by its graduates.

It has three main offices in Egypt, the U.A.E., and Saudi Arabia. It has programs in 14 countries and plans to expand its reach across MENA over the next five years. It has raised $2 million from VCs and angel investors.

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• Luma Makari , 22

• Omer Badokhon, 29

Occupation: Cofounder and CEO of Lemon Spaces Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt

Occupation: Cofounder and CEO of BioTreasure Nationality: Yemeni Residence: Yemen

Ezz is the cofounder of Lemon Spaces, which designs different spaces in buildings and interiors, depending on the neighborhood and location. Currently, the company operates 80 spaces, with another 168 spaces available from November 2023, and it has served over 25,000 guests. It has also signed partnerships with real estate developers, which will add 460 units to its network in 2024.

BioTreasure is a social enterprise that develops small and decentralized biogas plants.

Its system allows consumers to convert their organic waste into energy and organic fertilizers.

Today, it has more than 40 users using its biogas systems daily.

The company had provided more than 30,000 cubic meters of clean and renewable biogas, more than 30,000 hours of clean cooking gas, and more than 320 tons of high-quality biofertilizer as of October 2023.

Mohamed Ezz

• Mohammed Ihsan, 28 Occupation: Founder of Episode Zero Nationality: Iraqi Residence: U.A.E. Ihsan provides free and paid online edutainment materials about filmmaking and photography targeting native Arabic speakers. He has trained 80 GCC graduates offline and 6,300 through partnership training workshops with Sony MEA, along with 450 trainees via online training courses. He has also made a documentary about a women’s empowerment project for an independent local NGO in Jordan.

• Omar Emara, 26 Occupation: Cofounder and COO of FreshSource Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt FreshSource helps reduce food loss by managing the sourcing, distribution, and delivery of fresh produce.

It also offers data analytics to help producers adjust their production plans. The company has generated over $200,000 in extra farmer income and claims its model leads to an average of 15% increase in producer’s income and a 10% reduction in the business’ costs. It has also partnered with the Central Bank of Egypt to pioneer agriculture loans for producers.

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• Reine Metlej, 26 Mohammed Ihsan

Occupation: Cofounder of BIOwayste Nationality: Lebanese Residence: Lebanon BIOwayste converts organic waste into cooking gas and biofertilizer. Its smaller restaurantoriented machine can process seven tons of organic waste annually. It also offers scalable solutions with capacities of up to 50 tons per year. Metlej is also a startup trainer for accelerators and incubators in Lebanon and abroad for organizations such as INJAZ Lebanon and Nucleus Ventures. She was selected as a member of the Youth Advisory Board (YAB) for the European Commission Evaluation.

• Tala Al-Sharif; Ahmad AlBadarna, 26; 28 Occupation: Cofounders of Female Chimeras Nationality: Palestinian Residence: Palestine Female Chimeras was launched in 2018 to allow Palestinian women to share their stories and experiences through visual storytelling. It has reached over a million people in Palestine with these stories. The team has produced more than 35 short documentaries that narrate the lives of Palestinian women. The project was selected among 14 Youth-led solutions in the Arab world in “The State of Arab Youth on SDGs” Report by the Arab Youth Center.

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• Mohamed Ezz, 29

to elevated greenhouse gas emissions. She served as a senior sustainability executive at the MBC Group and managed a project focused on ending hunger by securing food for vulnerable children, where she partnered with the UN World Food Programme to launch a campaign called “Feed their Dreams.”

Occupation: Miss Lebanon 2022-2023 Nationality: Lebanese Residence: Lebanon Zaytoun is the Miss Universe Lebanon 2022 and Miss World Lebanon 2023. She has used her platform to advocate for greater access to education and health services for young women in Lebanon and established her own mentorship program to help young women. Zaytoun is an ambassador for the Lebanese Food Bank and the Children’s Cancer Center of Lebanon.

She has recently undertaken a three-week tour of the U.S. to raise funds for the Lebanese Food Bank and advocate for greater international support for Lebanon at the UN.

• Yusra Mardini, 24 Occupation: Founder and President of Yusra Mardini Foundation Nationality: Syrian Residence: Germany Yasmina Zaytoun

• Yomna Gaafar, 27 Occupation: Economic Analyst of Fiscal Affairs Department at IMF Nationality: Egyptian Residence: Egypt Gaafar helps governments and policymakers use digital tools to develop their economies and promote the prosperity of the poor and marginalized. In her current role with the IMF, she participates in the development of a VAT database, poised for an upcoming book. She is also involved in analysis aimed at pinpointing fiscal support channeled towards the agriculture sector via the tax apparatus—a domain linked

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Methodology

To find the region’s most promising young talent, we scanned UNDER the Middle East markets for outstanding young achievers and collected online nominations, whereby applicants could put themselves or someone else forward for consideration.

We initially received around 600 applications. The Forbes Middle East

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Yusra Mardini

research and editorial teams evaluated and debated all candidates, conducting several rounds of assessments to shortlist 240 candidates. We then turned to our external judges, all experts in their respective fields. They conducted their own research, deliberated the criteria, and shared their insights on who they thought should make the final cut.

In making our judgments, we took into account qualitative information, such as the impact that candidates have had on their industry, market, or society and their future potential. We also looked at quantifiable data such as funds raised, awards won, revenues achieved, the

In 2015, as the conflict in Syria intensified, Mardini and her sister, Sara, fled their war-torn homeland. When the boat’s engine failed, the two sisters and another passenger jumped into the water and pushed the boat for hours until they reached the shore, saving the lives of those aboard. After seeking refuge in Germany, her story captured the world’s attention during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games when she competed as a member of the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team. She has recently established the Yusra Mardini Foundation, which creates innovative sports and education projects for refugees to help them better integrate into their communities. She was appointed the youngest ever UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, aged 19. Her and Sara’s story is depicted in the 2022 Netflix film “The Swimmers.”

value of deals, the number of people impacted, the number of customers, and the number of followers on social media.

• Age eligibility: To be eligible for the 2023 list, the applicant had to have been under 30 years old on December 31, 2022.

This means that anybody born in 1993 or later was eligible. All ages given in the list are as of December 31, 2022.

• Geographic focus: Candidates could be from anywhere but had to have their business or initiatives based and dedicated to the MENA residents.

• Entries count: If one business had two cofounders or more under 30, they were counted as one entry.

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GUIDING STAR

Abdelrazek Aly, cofounder and CEO of Qatar-based startup Bonocle, set out to empower the blind community when he launched the revolutionary braille-based technology in 2016. Having now hit the $1.1 million mark in total funding, he’s hoping to help more of MENA’s visually impaired people.

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BY HAGAR OMRAN

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An entrepreneurial journey can begin in a million different ways, but for Abdelrazek Aly, cofounder and CEO of Bonocle, it literally started by accident.

In 2014, when he was a computer science student at Qatar University, Aly had a car collision that broke his right hand. Finding himself temporarily impaired, he joined the university’s Inclusion and Special Needs Support Center and began interacting with and learning about people with visual disabilities.

Realizing that the community needed more support, Aly teamed up with his university friend, Ramy Abdulzaher, Bonocle’s’ cofounder and COO, to think of ways to help.

“We started brainstorming and educating ourselves about how things could work better. By collaborating closely with the blind community, we've evolved Bonocle into the product that it is today,” says Aly, an Egyptian who moved to Qatar with his family when he was three years old. Officially launched in 2016, a year after Aly graduated, Bonocle offers users a small device like a computer mouse but with a built-in Braille cell, haptics, and motion sensors that can be digitally connected to smartphones and tablets via Bluetooth and dots that can be moved up and down to mimic different Braille letters and convert the visual content to Braille.

Thanks to Bonocle’s in-house technology, many things that sighted people can do are now available for the blind. In addition to its uses in education, Bonocle also offers entertainment and online gaming options, so someone with a visual disability can open any PDF, book, or document via Bonocle’s reader app, and it will automatically be translated to Braille at the fingertip.

The company is set to launch a music education app in 2024 and an online education platform app no later than 2025, which will enable users to offer Braille instruction and tutoring services in exchange for compensation. These initiatives aim to not only F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

“THE BIG THING HERE IS INCLUSION. PEOPLE WITH VISUAL DISABILITIES CAN READ THE SAME DOCUMENT AS SIGHTED PEOPLE DO AT THE SAME TIME. THEY CAN ALSO PLAY THE SAME GAMES TOGETHER.” The cofounders’ primary focus has been to make their devices accessible rather than prioritizing profitability.

Without revealing a precise figure, Bonocle’s CEO says that the startup is hoping to reach profitability next year. “Bonocle has to be profitable to better serve the blind community and to provide them with the inclusive solutions they need,” explains Aly. Bonocle was first funded through bootstrapping and a $60,000 grant in 2016 from the Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP). A year later, the startup received $100,000 in a grant from Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy. In 2020, QSTP

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enhance Braille literacy but also generate employment prospects within the blind community.

“The big thing here is inclusion. People with visual disabilities can read the same document as sighted people do at the same time. They can also play the same games together,” explains Aly. According to the World Health Organization, about 2.2 billion people have vision impairment or blindness. The global financial burden of vision impairment costs around $411 billion in purchasing power parity annually.

Pricing remains a key consideration for assistive technology products, with Bonocle currently priced at around $799 per unit. This remains an issue for many blind people, which hinders boosting the penetration rate of such Braille display devices among the blind community, according to Dr. Zeinab Mohammed, lecturer at the Faculty of Mass Communication at Egypt’s Beni Suef University, who is a member of the visually impaired community. “Bonocle offers the advantages of original Braille, but without its headache, as the traditional printed Braille documents aren’t always available. They are also heavy because of the thick paper that is used to apply dots. They also need a lot of space. Turning the educational process into digital Braille makes things easier and adds a lot of fun,” says Mohammed.

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supported the company again Bonocle’s devices are currently with a grant of $360,000. manufactured in China and The company has received then shipped to the country $30,000 in smaller grants of purchase. “China has a and awards from various well-developed logistics sources, with the remaining infrastructure and vast supply contributions coming from chain that help attract MENA angel investors. Since its startups that seek to design, inception, the company’s total build, and ship their products funding has reached about easily,” says Daniel Takieddine, $1.1 million, with CEO for MENA at BDSwiss. approximately $550,000 of The progress in improving that obtained through grants. manufacturing quality has “Bonocle embodies made China unavoidable the spirit of leveraging for startups, according to technology for social benefit, Takieddine, adding that the specifically addressing the city of Shenzhen, for example, challenges faced by those has become a hub for hardware “BONOCLE’S JOURNEY with visual impairments,” startups. China can offer a IS AN EYE-OPENER ON says Yosouf Al-Salehi, QSTP’s lower production cost, which Executive Director. “The in turn results in better THE IMPORTANCE OF THE startup’s offering is not just margins for the companies and SOCIAL IMPACT THAT A enhancing accessibility, lower prices for the end-users.

STARTUP COULD BRING. but also demonstrating the However, Aly is considering transformative power of IT IS JUST THE START, AND establishing a production tech innovation to empower facility in Jordan or Egypt, MORE WILL FOLLOW.” those with disabilities and a decision that will be made build inclusive communities.” following a comprehensive QSTP has supported Bonocle study. throughout its journey through Aly’s passion for social incubation, mentorship, and funding programs. impact has also driven him to work on two other earlyAs of December 2022, Bonocle had delivered 100 stage projects. Firstly, he is working on a new social devices in total to clients in the U.S. and MENA. These media app called “Salney,” which means “Ask Me” in devices have been used by hundreds of individuals Arabic. The app is designed to connect people from after being bought by institutions and shared among around the world via audio or video call. “Salney aims users in universities and schools, fostering accessibility to bridge social and cultural gaps by facilitating oneand empowerment within the blind community. It on-one personal conversations between individuals aims to sell 1,000 units in 2024 and between 3,000 worldwide, eliminating the influence of media bias and 5,000 units in 2025. and intermediaries,” says Aly. “I believe Salney can “We have received orders from Jordan, the U.S., foster meaningful connections among people of Canada, and the U.K., in addition to Saudi Arabia, different cultures, enabling them to understand each Egypt, and the U.A.E.,” reveals Aly. Building on other directly, rather than relying on Western media this, Bonocle is now creating partnerships with for information about conflicts in the MENA region, governments and several institutions in Saudi for example.” Salney is expected to be launched in Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, and the U.A.E. to offer the November 2023. device to more clients in subsidized ways, with many The second new project is an app called governmental institutions wanting to improve Braille “Quraneyah” that aims to change Quran readers’ literacy as part of their social security goals, as well experiences and include explanations for a new as wanting to boost employment rates for the blind generation using flash cards. community.

“Bonocle’s journey is an eye-opener on the To achieve its annual sales targets, Bonocle is importance of the social impact that a startup could ramping up mass production. Due to limited local bring,” Aly stresses. “It is just the start, and more will mass production capacity and logistical challenges, follow.”

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PRO M OTI O N Scan this QR code to open the website

Success, From Scratch Yousef Sharbatly grew a leading marketing solutions company through challenging times. Now, the founder and CEO of DIGITECT has his sights set on future success in an industry – and an economy – on the up.

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talent playing pivotal roles. AI automates tasks and personalizes marketing, while creative talent is essential for engaging campaigns.

t the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Yousef Sharbatly built a marketing solutions company from scratch in his home country of Saudi Arabia. Today, DIGITECT works with global brands and employs more than 150 people across the Middle East, spurred by a vision to foster a knowledge-based economy and deliver results.

In the space of just four years, DIGITECT has emerged as a leading marketing, advertising, and public relations firm in the region, with services spanning digital marketing, IT, media services, event management, interior design, exhibition construction, and more.

“Our unwavering commitment focused on creating a 360° company catering to large international companies and local companies that would revolutionize the industry through cutting-edge digital technologies,” says Sharbatly, looking back to DIGITECT’s launch in 2019.

For the entrepreneur who serves as company CEO, success in the business world hinges on entrepreneurial resilience and the ability to seize opportunities.

As he sees it, entrepreneurs face challenges, but those who bounce back from setbacks and recognize new prospects are the ones who thrive. “Effective entrepreneurs excel at identifying overlooked opportunities, adapting swiftly to market changes, and outperforming competitors,” he insists.

Sharbatly also points to the importance of deep industry

Yousef Sharbatly, Founder and CEO of DIGITECT

understanding, the right resources, and, of course, skills. The founderCEO explains that a diverse range of sectors, from banking to fintech, are witnessing a surge in demand for digital creative talent, and DIGITECT is doing its part to meet that growing demand, in line with the kingdom’s ambitious vision. “The Saudi Vision 2030 initiative emphasizes the importance of digital marketing, with government investments and support for tech-driven businesses,” says the CEO, adding that e-commerce is thriving in Saudi Arabia, with digital marketing driving online shopper engagement and conversions.

More broadly, the MENA region is experiencing significant growth in digital marketing, driven by increasing internet users, mobile technology, and social media adoption. This transformation is reshaping business-customer interactions, with AI and creative

The expressed inOthis F O Rthoughts BESMIDD L E E A S T.C M advertorial are those of the client.

Yet as Saudi Arabia opens up its economy and powers towards a prosperous future built on diversification, the opportunities extend far beyond digital marketing, with sectors such as hospitality, construction, and e-commerce all brimming with potential. As a member of Al Nahla Group Investment Committee, Sharbatly understands the potential well.

“Al Nahla Group is a wellestablished company in Saudi Arabia, and it operates in various sectors, including automotive, real estate, construction, and investments, with 12 sub-companies,” he explains.

According to the investment committee member, the group’s investment strategy is geared towards growth, with plans for expansion in the hospitality sector, including the introduction of several world-renowned culinary concepts and hotel chains.

From multi-sector investments to marketing solutions, Yousef Sharbatly is rounding out 2023 on a high and, just like his home country, his ambitions for the future are boundless.

www.digitect.com NOVEMBER 2023

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ZU CK

BY KERRY A . DOLAN

THE FORBES 400 THE PROFILE

PHOTOGRAPH BY GUERIN BLASK FOR FORBES

GROWS UP

AS SOCIAL MEDIA’S POSTER BOY APPROACHES 40, HE’S HAVING HIS BILL GATES MOMENT: MELLOWING (A BIT), MATURING (A BIT MORE) AND UPENDING HIS COMPANY WITH STAGGERING CONFIDENCE. IT’S A BIG BET ON THE FUTURE OF DAILY HUMAN LIFE—AND HIS LEGACY.

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MARK ZUCKERBERG F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

NOVEMBER 2023

SITTING IN A GLASS-WALLED CONFERENCE ROOM NICKNAMED THE AQUARIUM,

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MARK ZUCKERBERG

RUNS A COST/BENEFIT ANALYSIS ON THE TOPIC THAT HAS BROUGHT HIM HEADLINES THIS YEAR: MIXED MARTIAL ARTS. Today, he’s focusing on head shots versus body shots. says Ek, who emphasizes that his three Marks reflect public “Getting hit in the face doesn’t hurt that much,” he perception, not his own opinion. “He’s learned a lot over deadpans. “It just does brain damage.” these past few years and he has a new fire in the belly. He’s The obviously-never-going-to-happen cage match with realized he needs to act responsibly because he’s got this Elon Musk (“I assumed he wouldn’t do it”) put Zuckerberg enormous platform. . . . But there’s still some of the old back into the zeitgeist in the stupidest way, but it also Mark, where he is betting on things even though everyone served a business purpose: For much of his career, he has tells him ‘this is never gonna work.’ ” Most notably, what’s undermined his monumental achievements by wading likely to be a $100 billion investment in a fantastical yet still through a swamp of missteps and democracy-crippling unproven virtual world called the metaverse that may not scandals. So the Musk beef was rare: an opportunity to play pay off for another seven years, if ever. hero to the Tesla CEO’s petulant villain, to demonstrate Zuckerberg has embraced a “martial arts view of the that Facebook’s former “toddler CEO” has evolved into world,” personally and for Meta, he says. That speaks to Meta’s statesman. respect, purpose, discipline and many other management “The thing that determines your destiny isn’t a textbook clichés. But ultimately, this third, more mature competitor,” he says. “It’s how you execute.”

Zuckerberg will lean on another MMA principle: selfSuch reflection is well-timed. Zuckerberg will turn awareness. “When you go into a competition, you’re not 40 next May, with a fortune estimated at $106 billion, fighting another person, you’re fighting yourself, right?” he a philanthropy arm designed for maximum impact and a commitment to transform one of the most important companies in the world, over which he has near total control. In many ways, he’s having his Bill Gates moment. Like Zuckerberg, Gates dropped out of Harvard to build a historically significant tech company.

Like Zuckerberg, he was the nerdy boy-wonder face of his field. Like Zuckerberg, he produced fans, enemies and antitrust concerns on his brusque, relentless way to the top.

And then, in his 40s, Gates flipped the script.

He transformed his image from unrepentant monopolist to global benefactor, with his company and legacy both winning because of it.

So what might that look like for Zuckerberg?

His friend and peer, Spotify founder Daniel Ek, describes a narrative arc that brings us to the current moment.

There’s “The Social Network Mark,” Ek says, a nod to the 2010 movie that portrayed the Facebook founder as an arrogant, duplicitous genius. Then there’s “Cambridge Analytica or MISSION IMPOSSIBLE ‘evil Mark,’ ” he says, referring to the company’s With his wife, pediatrician Priscilla Chan, Zuckerberg has shouldered a potentially data harvesting scandal.

Sisyphean goal: to help science cure, manage or prevent all disease by the end of the Which brings us to the Mark of today. “He century. Says Chan: “We talked about things that we couldn’t imagine being true in our is a lot more authentic in his public persona,” kids’ lifetimes.”

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ZUCK Z CK ER B ERG’ G’ S FA BU LOU S FORT U N E IN 2008, AT 24, THE FACEBOOK FOUNDER WAS THE YOUNGEST SELF-MADE BILLIONAIRE EVER TO JOIN THE FORBES 400. SEVEN YEARS LATER, HE WAS THE YOUNGEST TO CRACK THE TOP TEN. $150 B

$120 B

$90 B

$60 B

$30 B

$0 Year Age Rank

2008 24 321

FORBES.COM

2009 25 158

2010 26 35

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2011 27 14

2012 28 36

2013 29 20

2014 30 11

2015 31 7

2016 32 4

2017 33 4

2018 34 4

2019 35 4

2020 36 3

2021 37 3

2022 38 11

2023 39 8

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Yet these successes, as Facebook went public at a market capitalization of.nearly billion 2012, also ledortoboard the a lot of capital . . that$82 don’t have in the leadership Evil Mark period, whichthem can be up inonone structure that enables to summed take big bets theword: future,” hubris. the mid-2010s, Zuckerberg company.” barnstormed through he says.In“We’re a founder-controlled theThat Midwest tour with fishermen, farmers has on noa listening doubt helped Facebook make several and firemen. Meanwhile, in Menlo acquisitions once seen asback audacious butPark, nowCalifornia, viewed with respect (WhatsApp), curiosity (Oculus) or than awe any (Instahis company, which connects the world better gram,was onebeing of theused bestto corporate purchases at this century). other, assault democracy a scale bigger Yet these successes, as Facebook went public at a marthan any other. ket $82 billionalgorithm in 2012, also led It’scapitalization serious stuff: of Innearly 2014, Facebook’s to the Evilcalls Mark can summedthat up in one amplified forperiod, ethnic which violence inbe Myanmar word: hubris.

In the mid-2010s, barnstormed helped incite genocide against theZuckerberg Rohingya minority. through the Midwest on a listening tour with fishermen, In 2016, Cambridge Analytica, consultant to Donald farmers campaign, and firemen.

Meanwhile, in Menlofrom Park, Trump’s improperly used back data collected California,with his the company, connects the world better Facebook intent which to build voter profiles ahead than other, was being used assault democracy of the any presidential election.

Thatto same year, Russia in at a scale bigger than any other. essence turned Facebook into a discord-inducing antiIt’s serious In 2014, Facebook’s algorithm amdemocracy tool.stuff: In 2021, whistleblower Frances Haugen plified calls ethnic violence in Myanmar that helped revealed that for Facebook’s leadership had known about the inciteits genocide the Rohingya minority.profit In 2016, harm productsagainst could cause—and prioritized and Cambridge Analytica, consultant to Donald Trump’s camgrowth regardless. paign, used data will collected Facebook “Markimproperly Zuckerberg’s legacy be thefrom key role his with the intent to build voter profiles ahead of the company played in undermining democracy,” sayspresidenventure tial election. same year, Russia in essence turned capitalist RogerThat McNamee, an early Facebook investor (and Facebook intoinvestor) a discord-inducing anti-democracy tool. In former Forbes who has become an outspoken 2021,“Without whistleblower Frances Haugen revealed critic.

Facebook, the whole world wouldthat lookFacebook’s leadership had known about the harm its products completely different . . . and much better. For someone who could prioritized profitthis andisgrowth regardless. had so cause—and much opportunity for good, a tragedy.”

“Mark legacy will be the key role his comTo this, Zuckerberg’s Zuckerberg—who originally dismissed concerns pany played in undermining democracy,” says venture about 2016 election interference on Facebook as a “crazy capitalist Roger McNamee, an early Facebook investor idea,” even as it was going on under his nose—says, “Certain (and former Forbes investor) who has become an outspogovernments around the world will keep on trying to run ken critic. “Without Facebook, the whole world would look different campaigns like this,” adding “I think our teams have completely different . . . and much better. For someone gotten a lot more sophisticated about dealing with this.” who had so much opportunity for good, this is a tragedy.”

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says. “You’re just trying to be a better version of yourself.”

Zuckerberg as he this Zuckerberghas hasextraordinary embraced a leeway “martial artspursues view of the re-invention.

Professionally, no onehe can tell him world,” personally and for Meta, says.

Thatwhat speaks to to do. Facebook has a dual share which gives respect, purpose, discipline and structure many other management him unassailable Currently, he third, owns 99% the textbook clichés.control.

But ultimately, this moreofmature super-voting B shares and has 61% of the overall selfZuckerberg Class will lean on another MMA principle: awareness.

“When you goboth intounfireable—and a competition, largely you’re not voting power, making him fighting another person, you’re fighting yourself, right?” he unaccountable. says.

“You’re just trying be a common better version of yourself.”

“Can you gather all thetoother shareholders to vote against Mark?” asks his friend and Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskovitz. “No, you can’t.” uckerberg extraordinary leeway as he This was Social Networkhas Mark’s foundational move— pursues this reinvention.

Professionally, suggested by Napster cofounder and former Facebook no one no canless, telland himepitomized what to do. president Sean Parker, byFacebook hasbusiness a dual share which Zuckerberg’s early cards,structure which read I’Mgives CEO,him unassailable control. hecontrol owns BITCH. In Facebook’s primordial days,Currently, the need for 99% of the supervoting Class B shares and has 61% of of one’s own destiny was reinforced. Zuckerberg recalls the overall makingoffered him both unfireable—and the timevoting in 2006power, when Yahoo $1 billion to buy largely unaccountable.

Facebook, then just two years old. “When I didn’t want “Can gather Iall thethe other common to sell theyou company, think investors were shareholders thinking, to voteweagainst asks his friend Facebook ‘Maybe should Mark?” get a different team?’

Andand it’s like, ‘Oh, cofounder Dustin “No,quietly. you can’t.” well, you can’t,’ ” heMoskovitz. says, laughing This was Social Network Mark’s foundational move— suggested by Napster cofounder and former Facebook presidentuckerberg Sean Parker, no less, and epitomized understandably sees this asby a Zuckerberg’s early business cards, which read I’M CEO, BITCH. feature, not a bug. “There are plenty of companies In Facebook’s for control of one’s in theprimordial world thatdays, have the a lotneed of capital . . . that own destiny was reinforced.

Zuckerberg recalls the time don’t have the leadership or board structure thatin 2006 when Yahoo offered $1 billion to buy Facebook, then enables them to take big bets on the future,” he just two years old.

“When I didn’t want to sell the company, says. “We’re a founder-controlled company.”

I think the investors were thinking, ‘Maybe we should That has no doubt helped Facebook make several get a different team?’ And it’s like, ‘Oh, well, you can’t,’ ” acquisitions once seen as audacious but now viewed with he says, laughing quietly. respect (WhatsApp), curiosity (Oculus) or awe (Instagram, Zuckerberg understandably sees this as a feature, not a one of the best corporate purchases this century). bug. “There are plenty of companies in the world that have

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That’s about all we’ll likely get. Voting control largely shields him from consequences other than apologies. “We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake,” he told a congressional hearing in 2018, apologizing for the Cambridge Analytica scandal. “It was my mistake, and I’m sorry. I started Facebook, I run it and I’m responsible for what happens here.”

But responsibility and accountability are different.

Especially when the giant asset firms that support him, including Vanguard, BlackRock and Fidelity, see that despite the stumbles, he has delivered an inarguably great track record for shareholders. Over the last three years, Meta’s shares have lagged the S&P 500 by nearly 16 percentage points, but they outperformed the index by 31 and 367 percentage points over five and ten years, respectively.

Benevolent dictatorships can, in theory, produce greatness. “There just aren’t that many places in the world where you can make the kind of long-term bets that we have,” Zuckerberg says, correctly. But without self-awareness, that benevolence looks more like the “evil” Mark to whom Ek referred—especially if the CEO’s reign could exceed a half-century.

“I think I’m going to be running Meta for a long time,” Zuckerberg says.

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t’s hard to pinpoint anyone’s maturation, but in looking at Zuckerberg, and the third Mark, you could do worse than to consider September 2021.

Facebook stock had hit its all-time high. The company was now worth nearly $1.1 trillion, and Zuckerberg himself was worth some $136 billion. His push into the metaverse was moving apace. The following month he announced the decision to change Facebook’s name to Meta Platforms, staking its brand on a bet that the metaverse would become the future of computing—the very definition of a founder-driven big bet.

Then came the reckoning. Over the next 14 months, Meta’s shares plunged 75% as annual revenue fell for the first time, with 2022 net income sagging 41%. Zuckerberg’s fortune crashed to $33 billion. Apple’s 2021 privacy update to its mobile operating system, iOS, which made it harder for tech companies to track users across apps, played a role.

Another culprit: competition from TikTok. Last year, then, Zuckerberg did something different.

No plowing forward. No belated halfhearted apologies.

Instead, he shifted. After taking his workforce from 33,600 to 87,000 in four years, Zuckerberg last November announced layoffs of more than 11,000 employees—13% of the company—then added another 10,000 to that number this March. “We made some really tough calls last year,” he says flatly. “It’s obviously not what you want to do.”

“We tried to set up the operating framework for the company for two goals,” he continues. “One was to set us up to operate more efficiently and build better products faster. The other was to make sure that we have the financial space to buffer whatever bumps we hit along the

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EYES WIDE SHUT The latest version of Meta’s Quest headset offers “mixed-reality” (a blend of virtual reality and the physical world) and is due to be released this fall; it will cost $500. Pictured above: a prototype of the device.

way so we can continue to invest in the long-term vision, which for the most part is these two major investments that we’re making in AI and the metaverse.”

The vision didn’t change, even if the metaverse has already been written off by some as a failure and Zuckerberg has said publicly it will take a decade before it makes money. Meta has already accumulated some $40 billion in opera-ting losses from its bet on the idea of an alternate virtual universe led by its Reality Labs arm, but Zuckerberg remains all-in. It’s tough sledding: Horizon Worlds—a free virtual reality app for its Quest VR headsets that was supposed to herald an era of immersive experiences and VR conference calls—reportedly failed to meet its 2022 target of 500,000 monthly active users, hitting fewer than 200,000, according to an internal document cited by the Wall Street Journal in February.

Even Zuckerberg concedes Horizon Worlds isn’t as retentive as it needs to be. “It’s one thing to say, ‘Okay, this is an impressive experience,’ ” he says. “It’s another to say, ‘I want to do another meeting like that every week.’ ” “I would probably make a different investment in Reality Labs, for example, if I were calling all the shots,” adds Susan Li, Meta’s chief financial officer.

Li notes that her remark won’t come as a surprise to Zuckerberg, who encourages such debate. And as he took in the criticism and course-corrected, markets responded.

Meta’s stock has more than tripled in value since its trough in late 2022—helped along by about $38 billion worth of share repurchases since the start of last year.

Analyst consensus projects a 14% rise in revenue this year to nearly $133 billion and a whopping 50% jump in net income to $34 billion, bringing it much closer to its high two years ago. The resulting share upswing again made

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“WHAT ARE YOU SPENDING ALL THIS MONEY ON? ‘WELL, WE’RE TRYING TO FIT A SUPERCOMPUTER INTO A PAIR OF NORMAL GLASSES.’ ”

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f the first two Marks are based on public perception, then the third Mark has surely realized how Gates transformed his image through the great public works he began to focus on in his 40s. Zuckerberg, just 26 at the time, was one of the original signatories of the Giving Pledge, the campaign spearheaded by Gates and Warren Buffett that asks billionaires to commit to spending at least half

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of their fortune on philanthropy.

“Bill believes very strongly that if you want to do philanthropic work well as a discipline, if you want to be good at it by the time you’re older, you need to practice,” Zuckerberg says.

In 2015, just before the birth of their daughter, Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, wrote her a letter pledging to give 99% of their Facebook shares to their philanthropic mission, later dubbed the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Today that stock is worth some $103 billion (plus the $4.2 billion they’ve already given away). If they follow through, and there are no indications they will not, CZI will emerge as one of the world’s largest philanthropic efforts, second only to that of Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, and possibly bigger depending on Meta’s future performance.

Chan describes CZI as “an unbelievable opportunity.”

It’s set up nontraditionally as a limited liability company that in addition to giving money away makes venture investments in for-profit companies that align with its goals. It also funds advocacy work. The LLC setup means Zuckerberg and Chan don’t get an immediate tax break, nor do they have to disclose its activities. But when they transfer assets from the LLC to CZI’s charitable foundation, which has $7 billion in assets (as of its most recent tax filing), the couple gets a tax deduction—and mandatory disclosure. CZI’s audacious goal is to help science cure, manage and prevent all disease by the end of the century. Full points for aiming high, but the reality of delivering treatments is complex. Chan is unfazed. “It’s rewarding to work on problems that people think are impossible,” she says.

To that end, CZI plans to build one of the world’s largest AI computing clusters for nonprofit life science research, trying to more completely model various human cells to understand how they behave when healthy and diseased. The Chan Zuckerberg Institute for Advanced Biological Imaging, which is based in Redwood City, California, is already developing new ways to view cells in high resolution to promote earlier disease detection.

Such expansive thinking has changed how Zuckerberg operates. As his CZI-backed entities study diseases, Mark three has embraced wellness in his own life to boost his productivity, exercising almost every day and sleeping a full eight hours a night. With jiujitsu and MMA, he’s engaging in combat, but in a respectful, more thoughtful way. And he’s clearly recognizing that his sins of the past decade might be washed away if he achieves even a fraction of what CZI has sworn to.

“Even if only a third of the things that you bet on work,” he says, “I think that still creates a ton of value in the world.”

THE FORBES 400

Zuckerberg one of the ten wealthiest people on the planet.

For him, the metaverse is part of a long-term vision that encompasses not just VR and AR, but artificial intelligence as well. Like Gates, who in a February interview with Forbes described recent advances in AI as “every bit as important as the PC or the internet,” Zuckerberg sees the mainstreaming of AI as a transformative event. And, like many other tech giants, Meta has also built a large language model on which to train the AI that will define its future. Called Llama 2, it’s open-source and will be integrated into a variety of Meta’s products.

“AI will go across everything,” he says, outlining a now familiar new world that begins with intelligent assistants and ends with holograms of our colleagues in business meetings. Zuckerberg also sees AI powering "characters" that live on Meta's various platforms.

"They'll have Instagram and Facebook profiles," he explains. "And you'll be able to talk to them in WhatsApp and Messenger and Instagram, and they'll be embodied as avatars in virtual reality."

He acknowledges AI is another one of those costly forward-looking gambles. But he’s the only Meta shareholder who matters, and he has plenty of patience.

“Look, it’s going to take some more time to get to full augmented reality glasses. And that’s what a large percentage of the Reality Labs budget is going toward. So when people say, ‘What are you spending all this money on?’ It’s like, ‘Well, we’re trying to fit a supercomputer into a pair of normal glasses.’ ” Should Meta manage to pull that off first in a compelling way, it could define a new market. If it doesn’t, it will be a costly fast failure like many before it: the Facebook phone, the now-abandoned Portals videochatting device, the botched cryptocurrency effort Libra.

“Our lived experience here is failures, constant failures, constantly doing things that we think people will love,” says Meta chief technology officer Andrew “Boz” Bosworth. “And they don’t love them and leave us asking, ‘Why don’t you love this?’ We ask that question rigorously. And then we iterate and iterate and iterate until we find the product market fit. That’s something we’re very good at.”

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An Enduring Icon 96

Jumeirah invites guests to experience royal splendor at Burj Al Arab Jumeirah - Dubai’s most iconic hotel.

Stepping into incomparable luxury Arrival at Burj Al Arab Jumeirah is a grand affair, as you enter through guarded gates before passing along a narrow bridge that gently curves over sparkling waters onto the hotel’s private island. For that extra special touch, guests can opt for chauffeur-driven transfers in one of the hotel’s dedicated fleet of RollsRoyce Phantoms.

Stepping inside the hotel into the world’s tallest atrium – a rainbowhued spectacle that soars 180 meters up through the center of the majestic tower – is a treat for the senses. From the bespoke scent and towering flower arrangements to details gilded in 24-carat gold, shades of jeweltoned reds and blues, tiered dancing fountain, and tranquil aquariums, this is an arrival like no other.

A traditional Arabian welcome

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hen it comes to hospitality, Burj Al Arab Jumeirah is the jewel in Dubai’s crown. An architectural marvel, the instantly recognizable sail shaped hotel stands as an icon of a modern city and a catalyst for the emirate’s bold ambition to become one of the most dynamic destinations in the world.

Challenging the norms of hotel design, Burj Al Arab Jumeirah has redefined the meaning of ultraluxury hospitality, globally.

Burj Al Arab Jumeirah has redefined the meaning of ultra-luxury hospitality, globally.

Now, nearly a quarter of a century since it was unveiled, the hotel remains a global symbol of Arabian opulence and is one of the world’s most photographed architectural landmarks.

The thoughts expressed in this advertorial are those of the client.

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Guest greetings come in the form of the warm ‘Marhaba Welcome’, the epitome of Arabian hospitality and a treasured ancient custom. Guests are offered rose water, refreshing cold towels, dates, and authentic Arabic coffee before being shown to their suites where their favorite flowers await – prepared by the hotel’s in-house florists – along with any other personal touches they may have requested.

Personal butlers remain on-hand for every suite for the duration of stays to create bespoke, memorable experiences and ensure every whim is met from the moment guests arrive.

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PRO M OTI O N

Opulence at a new level At every touchpoint, the all-suite hotel mesmerizes. Its hallmark opulence is visible in its sumptuous accommodations, with every suite spread across two floors with floor-to-ceiling windows providing magnificent, uninterrupted ocean and city views.

Dressed in a lavish rhapsody of rich materials, including luxurious silks and plush handmade carpets, each suite is designed to provide an unforgettably regal experience.

From customized Hermès amenities to an extensive pillow menu to pair with the exclusive Eiderdown duvets - some of the most sought after in the world – all aspects of these suites are designed to ensure absolute comfort amid the utmost luxury.

Waterside splendor The world’s largest man-made terrace, spanning 10,000 square meters, The Terrace at Burj Al Arab Jumeirah provides an award-winning and exclusive spot to relax, cool down, and soak up the Arabian sun.

Suspended 100 meters out to sea, the Terrace offers a stretch of fine white sand and boasts two temperature controlled outdoor swimming pools, including a stunning infinity pool complete with four Jacuzzis, which effortlessly blend with the sea and sky to create a mesmerizing vista.

This oasis in the heart of the Arabian Gulf also offers a selection of exclusive private cabanas. Nestled amidst lush gardens and cascading pools, the cabanas provide a serene escape, offering guests the perfect blend of privacy and extravagance.

With breathtaking views of the Arabian Gulf and the iconic Dubai skyline, Burj Al Arab Jumeirah is home to five swimming pools in total, with separate pools at Talise Spa.

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Dining is an unparalleled experience, from the exquisite quality of the food and the first-class service to the spectacular settings.

Guests have complimentary access to Wild Wadi Waterpark™ while neighboring Jumeirah Beach Hotel and the adjacent Jumeirah Al Naseem property both welcome those staying at Burj Al Arab Jumeirah with open arms. Jumeirah Beach Hotel offers water sports for the whole family, including kayaking, fishing, diving, and waterskiing, while Jumeirah Al Naseem is home to the spectacular private Summersalt Beach Club.

Gastronomy and mixology to savor forever Burj Al Arab Jumeirah takes guests on a magnificent gastronomic journey, with each of the property’s nine award-winning restaurants and lounges offering a unique culinary concept. Dining is an unparalleled experience, from the exquisite quality of the food and the first-class

The thoughts expressed in this advertorial are those of the client.

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

service to the spectacular settings, including sky-high lounges and underwater restaurants.

As iconic as the hotel itself, Ristorante L’Olivo at Al Mahara – which brings Jumeirah’s two Michelin-star dining experience from Capri to Dubai – is set against the backdrop of the breathtaking floorto-ceiling tropical reef aquarium.

With an ever-evolving menu from Executive Chef Andrea Migliaccio, diners can expect Italian culinary magic and flavors of the sea.

Looking up, Al Muntaha, which means ‘The Highest’ or ‘The Ultimate’ in Arabic, serves elevated fine dining and a soaring view to match, located 200 meters above sea. Internationally lauded with a Michelin star and the U.A.E.’s first ever 14 Toque award from Gault&Millau, Al Muntaha serves up exquisite French and Italian haute cuisine from Chef Saverio Sbaragli, which can be enjoyed via à la carte options or as part of a stunning sixcourse tasting menu. The restaurant also offers a unique eight-course cheese tasting menu.

Those seeking al fresco or water-side dining can find a chic Mediterranean

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vibe and inspired menu at contemporary lifestyle destination SAL. Delivering a sophisticated and relaxed experience in a stunning setting with panoramic views across the Arabian Gulf, guests can enjoy unique and delicious dining with signature dishes such as homemade Trenette Pasta with Crab or SaltCrusted Seabass.

For a picture-perfect afternoon, Sahn Eddar serves up an opulent afternoon tea experience conceptualized by award-winning executive pastry chef, Tom Coll.

Hosted in the awe-inspiring atrium and crafted from carefully sourced ingredients, the elegant afternoon tea menu offers a selection of sandwiches, delicate pastries, and homemade scones, paired with a choice of hot beverages, a glass of bubbly, or even the iconic Golden Cappuccino.

In the evening, Gilt bar begins to glitter. From its 27th floor perch, spectacular vistas of the city sprawl across the horizon. Here guests can

Guest greetings come in the form of the warm ‘Marhaba Welcome’, the epitome of Arabian hospitality. enjoy distinctive cocktails curated by expert mixolologists alongside decadent small plates.

But guests need not leave the privacy and comfort of their suite to enjoy fine dining. A sophisticated private dining menu is served 24 hours a day, or alternatively, guests are able to coordinate with the Executive Chef and Private Dining Manager to create a personalized menu for a romantic dinner or party to be served in their own suite.

Your journey to wellbeing Situated 150 meters above the Arabian Gulf, Talise Spa at Burj Al Arab Jumeirah is set across two levels and offers 13 luxurious treatment and therapy rooms, separate male

The thoughts expressed in this advertorial are those of the client.

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

and female indoor infinity pools, Jacuzzis, saunas, steam rooms, and plunge pools. Bathed in natural light, the serene setting and discreet environment at Talise Spa combine to create a sanctuary for hotel guests and day guests alike.

At Talise Spa, guests can relax and rejuvenate with an array of bespoke treatments, including the patented Leg School® treatment from Capri Palace Jumeirah – the only venue in the Middle East to offer the exclusive treatment.

www.jumeirah.com/BurjAlArab

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Sustainability Leaders’ Summit

Sustainability Leaders’ Summit Laying Out The Path To A Greener Future

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H.E. Dr. Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, U.A.E. Minister of State for Foreign Trade

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orbes Middle East held its Sustainability Leaders’ Summit, chaired by H.E. Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the U.A.E.’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade, on November 2-3 at the St Regis Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi, under the theme “Driving Economic Growth for a Greener World.”

With VIP attendees, speakers, government ministers, and business leaders in attendance, the summit explored the pathway to net zero, delving into strategies for decarbonizing industries and energy systems, the transformation of Middle East destinations into sustainable tourism paradises, embedding sustainable finance and impact entrepreneurship, building climate-smart cities and mobility systems, and inspiring innovation F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Sustainability leaders gathered in Abu Dhabi to explore the biggest challenges and most impactful solutions to protect our planet while growing our economies.

for sustainable consumption and resource conservation.

Khuloud Al Omian, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Middle East, emphasized the urgency for positive action. “It is all of our responsibilities to work together to find solutions that ensure that we hand over a thriving, green, and healthy planet to the next generation,” she insisted. “At Forbes, we’re not just talking about sustainability; we are involved in it. We want to be a sustainability leader in our industry, and by incorporating green initiatives into all our summits and our operations, we hope to have a measurable and positive impact on the future.”

Chair of the Forbes Middle East Sustainability Leaders’ Summit, H.E. Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi,

Minister of State for Foreign Trade for the U.A.E., engaged in a conversation with a selection of GEMs students representing the next generation. He spoke of the importance of collaboration and realistic goals. “For me, sustainability is about continuity,” he emphasized. “When it comes to the resources for everyone, we are all born with certain conditions around us and a certain level of available resources around us. How we use those resources is up to us and our community. We have to ensure we always think about tomorrow to make sure the continuity is there.”

The summit’s packed agenda featured panel discussions, interviews, and presentations.

These included insights from: Eng. Yasser Zaghloul, Group CEO NOVEMBER 2023

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Eng. Mohammed Abaalkheil, Corporate Relations Vice President, stc Group; and Khuloud Al Omian, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Middle East.

Welcome address by Eng. Yasser Zaghloul, Group Chief Executive Officer, NMDC Group

Keynote Address by H.E. Ambassador Majid Al Suwaidi, Director-General, COP28

Gordon Gill, Founding Partner, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

Ibrahim N. Al Zu’bi, Chief Sustainability Officer, ADNOC; Mohamed Amer CEO El Gouna, Orascom Development; Talal Kensara, Chief Strategic Management Officer, Diriyah Gate Company Limited (DGCL); Amir Golbarg Senior Vice President Operations – Middle East & Africa, Minor Hotels and Jonathan Brown, Chief Portfolio Officer, Miral Group

of the National Marine Dredging Company; H.E. Ambassador Majid Al Suwaidi, Director-General of COP28; Sherif Beshara, Group CEO of the Mohamed and Obaid Almulla Group and American Hospital Dubai; and Ali Sajwani, Managing Director of Operations and Technology at DAMAC Properties. The summit concluded with a recognition ceremony that celebrated the Middle East’s most impactful sustainability leaders.

Forbes Middle East worked with a host of partners to bring this critical F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Giuseppe Mucci, CEO and Founder, Bioscience Institute and Clinic

Said Zater, Group Chief Executive Officer, Contact Financial Holding

Dr. Steven Griffiths, Senior Vice President, Research and Development , Professor of Practice, Khalifa University of Science and Technology; H.E. Engineer Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi, Group CEO, Emirates Steel Arkan (Emsteel); Eng. Yasser Zaghloul; Helmut von Struve, CEO, Siemens Middle East and Abdulnasser Ibrahim Saif Bin Kalban, CEO, Emirates Global Aluminium

event to life: presenting partner the National Marine Dredging Company; associate partner EFS Facilities Services Group; support partners EFG Holding, Emirates Steel Arkan, FurniSure Home Furniture Rentals, Emirates Global Aluminium, Al Baddad Capital and Desert Group; event partners ADNOC, Contact Financial Holding and NABD; media partners Rominds Productions; furniture partner Electra Solutions; food partners Bustanica, Barakat, Amazonas4u, House of Pops, and Dibba Bay

Oysters; gift partners Whirlpool, Patchi, Ritz Carlton Istanbul, Rixos Premium Dubai JBR, Oberoi Beach Resort Al Zorah, W Abu Dhabi Yas Island, Hampton by Hilton Marjan Island, Anantara Desaru Coast Malaysia, St. Regis Cairo, Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru, Zulal Wellness Resort, The Elixir Clinic, Growhub, Precise Merchandise Solutions, Peacefull and OneHive; AI and technology partner PurpleGlo; sustainability partner No More Bottles; and stylist partner, Twinkle Beauty Spa. NOVEMBER 2023

Sustainability Leaders’ Summit

102 Eng. Mohammed Abaalkheil, Corporate Relations Vice President, stc Group

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Group Chief Sustainability Officer, Ibrahim Al-Zu’bi

Dr. Besart Kadia, Deputy Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Albania and Ramia Farrage, Senior Presenter / Producer, Forbes Middle East

Mariam Farag, Founder & Author, Humanizing Brands; Yousif Bin Saeed Al Lootah, CEO, Lootah Biofuels and Maher Al Kaabi, Advisor to Group Chairman & Independent Board Member, Al Serkal Group of Companies, Executive Committee Member, UAE International Investors Council

Hanaa Helmy, Group Chief Corporate Sustainability and Impact Officer, EFG Holding and CEO, EFG Foundation

Sally Mousa, Senior Presenter, Forbes Middle East; Eng. Ahmed Salem Al Dhaheri, CEO, NMDC Energy (formerly NPCC); Ibrahim N. Al Zu’bi, Chief Sustainability Officer, ADNOC and Capt. Ibrahim Koshy, CEO, Saudia Group

Sherif Beshara, Group CEO of the Mohamed & Obaid Almulla Group and American Hospital Dubai

Faraz Khan MBE, CEO & Partner, Founder and Director, Spectreco, Seed Ventures; Ramia Farrage; Martin Reynolds, CEO, Zero Carbon Ventures and Dr. Nashwa Al Ruwaini, Founder and CEO, Pyramedia Group

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Nadia Zaal, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Zaya & CEO, Al Barari Group

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, CEO, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA)

Gordon Gill, Founding Partner of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, and Majed Marie, CEO of Magnum Properties

Chris Chow, Co-Founder of TCC Capital and Charles Zha, Director, International Hydrogen Center

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103 Kayaan K. Unwalla, Senior Advisor to the Office of H.E., The Minister of State for Foreign Trade, and Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright LLP

Capt. Ibrahim Koshy, CEO, SAUDIA

Sally Mousa; Sarah El Battouty; Salama Mohamed, Founder, Peacefull and Laila Mostafa Abdullatif, Director General, Emirates Nature–WWF

Nameer Khan, Chairman, Mena Fintech Association & Founder, FILS; Dr. Adnan Chilwan, Group Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Islamic Bank

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Yasser Zaghloul, Group CEO, NMDC Group

Said Zater, Group CEO of Contact Financial Holding

Jennifer Sault, Founder and Managing Director, Thrift for Good; Ramie Murray, CEO, Dibba Bay Oysters and Arnoud van den Berg, CEO, Al Dahra Group

Musabbeh Al Kaabi, Executive Director, Low Carbon Solutions & International Mohamed Amer, CEO, El Gouna Growth, ADNOC Group

Sarah El Battouty, Global Ambassador UN Climate Change High-Level Champions & Founder, ECOnsult Architecture; and Yasar Jarrar, Strategy Advisor

Amnah Ajmal, EVP, EEMEA, Mastercard and Sandeep Walia, COO for the Middle East, Egypt, and Türkiye, Marriott International

Tariq Chauhan, Group CEO, EFS Facilities Services Group

Fadi Pharaon, President of Ericsson Middle East & Africa, Ericsson

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Healthcare Summit 2023

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Group picture of the Forbes Middle East Healthcare Summit

The Forbes Middle East Healthcare Summit 2023 Raises Vital Questions And Inspires Positive Change Forbes Middle East, in partnership with PureHealth, held its second annual Healthcare Summit under the theme “Health For Everyone: Advancing Healthcare” from October 8-10, 2023, at the St Regis Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi.

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ith more than 700 guests, speakers, dignitaries, and industry leaders in attendance, the vital event explored how the entire healthcare ecosystem is transforming to embrace technology, sustainability, and new cutting-edge therapies to improve patient outcomes and longevity. It also highlighted the importance of considering sustainability and waste reduction in facility operations, health infrastructure, and medical supplies. Once the expert programming was done, Forbes Middle East recognized the region’s most influential leaders in healthcare from its Top Healthcare Leaders 2023 list at a recognition ceremony, followed by a glittering gala dinner F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

where guests mingled and enjoyed live music and comedy performances.

Khuloud Al Omian, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Middle East emphasized the significance of the summit, stating, “We are thrilled at how everyone came together to make this incredible event such a success.

There is nothing more precious than our health, and the industries that take care of this gift are among the most vital in the world. It makes me so proud that we have built this platform that enables so many experts, practitioners, and policymakers to come together to debate the issues most important to them and share their stories and discoveries for the good of human life.”

Shaista Asif, Cofounder and Chief Operating Officer of PureHealth, said: “We are happy to have partnered with Forbes Middle East to deliver this year’s groundbreaking Healthcare Summit. The event brought together leaders in healthcare and provided a platform for knowledge sharing and discussion of some of the most critical challenges we face in the industry.”

The summit offered a comprehensive program featuring in-depth discussions, thought-provoking panels, interactive sessions, and inspiring stories. These included insight from Shaista Asif; Dr. Fatima Al Kaabi, Executive Director of the Abu Dhabi Bone Marrow Transplant Program at the Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Center; NOVEMBER 2023

Event Coverage

H.E. Dr. Mariam Matar, Founder & Chairperson of the U.A.E. Genetic Diseases Association; H.E. Maqsoud Kruse, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Institution U.A.E.; Ayman Mokhtar, Regional President MENA & EURASIA at Viatris; and Dr. Fouziyah Al-Jarallah, Owner & Operator of the Hayat National Hospitals Group.

As well as its presenting partner, PureHealth, Forbes Middle East worked with a number of other esteemed partners to deliver this vital event: knowledge partner Khalifa University; support partners Jamjoom Pharma, Fern Event Rentals, Desert Group, Marina Retail Corporation, and Sheikh Shakhboot Medical City; event partners Hayat National Hospitals, Carexso, the Pharmaceutical Development Company, and NABD; food partners Amazonas4u, One Hive, House of Pops, Bustanica, Camelicious, and Barakat; wellness partners The Art of Living and Aroma Tierra; sustainability partner No More Bottles; AI and technology partner PurpleGlo; and gift partners Patchi, The Elixir Clinic, The Ritz Carlton Istanbul, The Oberoi Beach Resort Al Zorah, Rixos Premium Dubai, Niyama Private Islands Maldives, W Abu Dhabi Yas Island, Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas, St. Regis Cairo, Hampton by Hilton Marjan Island, Zulal Wellness Resort, xNARA, and Organic Foods & Café.

Ayman Mokhtar, Regional President MENA & EURASIA, Viatris F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

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Jamila Gandhi, Senior Editor, Forbes Middle East, Dr. Marwan Ali Mohammed Al Kaabi, Chief Critical Infrastructure Management & Response, PureHealth, Yasir Khalid, CEO, StrikeReady Inc, Khuloud Al Omian, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Middle East

H.E. Maqsoud Kruse, Chairperson, National Human Rights Institution U.A.E., Khuloud Al Omian, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Middle East

Dr. Naser Ammash, CEO, Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City

Shaista Asif, Cofounder & Group Chief Operating Officer, PureHealth

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Healthcare Summit 2023

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Ramia Farrage, Senior Presenter / Producer, Forbes Middle East, Dr. Ram Kumar Narain, Chief Medical Officer, The Medical Office, Dmitry Kaminskiy, General Partner, Deep Knowledge Group, Dr. Alex Aliper, Co-Founder & President, Insilico, Sadia Khuram, Group Chief Strategy Officer, PureHealth

David Hadley, CEO, NMC Healthcare

Dr. Asma Al Halaseh, CEO, Ambulatory Healthcare Services, Dr. Walid Abbas Zaher, Co-Founder & CEO, Carexso, Dr. Raza Siddiqui, CEO, Arabian Healthcare Group, Ramia Mohamed Mostafa, CEO, PDC-CRO. Farrage, Senior Presenter / Producer, Forbes Middle East

Networking F O R B E S MArea I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Nutritious Oasis

Khuloud Al Omian, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Middle East, with our esteemed attendees atNOVEMBER the photobooth.

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Dr. Marwan Ali Mohammed Al Kaabi, Chief Critical Infrastructure Management & Response, PureHealth

Take Home Plants by Desert Group

Dr. Fatima Al Kaabi, Executive Director, Abu Dhabi Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Center

Boyd Chongphaisal, VP and GM Gulf, GSK, Hugo Hagen, Senior Bayer Representative and Country Division Head— Middle East, Bayer Middle East

Chiara Seidenader, Longevity & Wellness Specialist, Rizwan Tufail, Chief Data Officer, PureHealth, Dr. Edward J. Cupler, Executive Director, Research & Innovation, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre, Dr. Yasir Khan, Clinical Director, MEA, Oracle Health

Jean-Paul Scheuer, GM Specialty Care, MCO Lead Greater Gulf, Sanofi, Georg Schroeckenfuchs, Head of Gulf and Saudi Country Group, Innovative Medicines, Novartis

H.E. Dr. Mariam Matar, Founder & Chairperson, U.A.E. Genetic Diseases F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M Association

Chiara Seidenader, Longevity & Wellness Specialist, H.H. Dr. Sayyida Basma Al Said, Founder, Whispers of Serenity Clinic, Christoph Glaser, Executive Coach, Consultant and Trainer, CEO, Tlex Institute

Sound of Healing Session by Vaishali Thaker, Wellness Consultant

Dr. Fouziyah Al-Jarallah, Owner and Group NOVEMBER 2023 CEO, Hayat National Hospitals Group

• THOUGHTS ON •

Legacy “The difference between the man who cuts lawns and the gardener is in the touching.

The lawn cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime.”

—Ray Bradbury

“Imagine there is no God. There is no heaven or hell.

There is only your son and his son and his son, and the world you leave for them.”

—Chuck Palahniuk “Sowing into the lives of young people is a worthy crusade. That is what it means to leave this world of ours more lit up than we found it.”

—Cicely Tyson

“Memory. Genes. That’s how life spoke to the future.

The story that never ends— it’s the art of survival.”

—Franciscka Soares “Are we being good ancestors?”

—Jonas Salk

“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, and the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.”

—Proverbs 13:22

“He’s had a bloody awful childhood. Like I had.

Those things get passed on and on.”

—Iris Murdoch “Our descendants deserve libraries, not barracks.

They deserve to inherit a world that values both their waking lives and their dreams.”

—Courtney M. Privett “The person of a man may go, but the best part of him stays. It stays forever.”

—William Saroyan

Oscar Wilde

“We should not forget that it will be just as important to our descendants to be prosperous in their time as it is to us to be prosperous in our time.”

—Teddy Roosevelt

“I ought to be ready at every moment of my life to confront myself and say, ‘This is what I have done.’ ” —Jonathan Netanyahu “All I aspire to be and was not, comforts me.”

—Olive Schreiner

“Woe to the man who leaves behind a shadow that bears his form.”

—Victor Hugo

“If you are an artist at all, you will not be the mouthpiece of a century but the master of eternity.”

—Oscar Wilde

“The very stone one kicks with one’s boot will outlast Shakespeare.”

—Virginia Woolf

SOURCES: FAHRENHEIT 451, BY RAY BRADBURY; LES MISÉRABLES, BY VICTOR HUGO; SELF-PORTRAIT OF A HERO: THE LETTERS OF JONATHAN NETANYAHU; ADJUSTMENT DAY, BY CHUCK PALAHNIUK; DUSTLIGHT, BY COURTNEY M. PRIVETT; THE HUMAN COMEDY, BY WILLIAM SAROYAN; JUST AS I AM, BY CICELY TYSON; THE SACRED AND PROFANE LOVE MACHINE, BY IRIS MURDOCH; LECTURE TO ART STUDENTS, BY OSCAR WILDE; THE SHADOW OF THE WIND, BY CARLOS RUIZ ZAFÓN; WOMAN AND LABOR,

BY OLIVE SCHREINER; THEY WHISPER IN MY BLOOD, BY FRANCISKA SOARES.

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“As long as we are being remembered, we remain alive.”

—Carlos Ruiz Zafón

FINAL THOUGHT “I would—having already passed the Biblical span of three score years and ten— pass on contented if I could conscientiously feel that we have done something toward bequeathing a better world.”

—B.C. Forbes

NOVEMBER 2023

IMAGE FROM WIKIPEDIA.ORG

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