ADNOC leads in doubling the diversity across UAE company boards

A report backed by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) revealed on Thursday that the number of listed board seats held by women in the UAE has more than doubled in two years from 29 seats in 2020 to 77 seats in 2022 – a new milestone in the UAE’s continued efforts to improve gender diversity in the boardroom.

According to research undertaken by Aurora50, a social enterprise working towards gender parity in GCC boardrooms, and the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government (MBRSG), the UAE’s gender diversity strategy has led to more women holding board positions this year (8.9%), up from 3.5 percent in 2020.

The report, Non-executive Board Careers in the UAE: A Path to Gender Balance, was sponsored by ADNOC. It reveals that 77 of the 868 board seats from the 115 listed companies on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), are now held by women. The boost to women on boards in the UAE follows the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) setting a quota last year mandating all listed companies in the UAE to appoint at least one woman to their boards.

The first-of-its-kind report in the GCC highlights the key strategies for aspiring women to reach independent board positions in just a decade, and was curated from research with current regional women board directors.

“ADNOC is committed to supporting gender balance and helping women develop, grow and excel in their careers, which is why we are proud to have collaborated with Aurora50,” Fatema Al Nuaimi, Chief Executive Officer for ADNOC LNG, said in a statement.

“This important research provides us with better insight and actionable recommendations to further accelerate gender diversity on boards in support of the national gender balance agenda,” she added.

Al Nuaimi is one of ADNOC Group’s three female chief executives and the energy company has committed to ensuring at least one woman sits on the board of every ADNOC Group company by the end of 2022. Currently, 16 women sit on its 18 boards. ADNOC has its own gender balance committee and women’s leadership development programme and it was Aurora50’s first corporate client.

“It is excellent to see such progress being made in boardrooms across the UAE, but we know there is a lot more that can be done to accelerate the pace of change. We hope this report will help women in the region to confidently make their way to the top,” Diana Wilde, co-founder of Aurora50, said.

According to Dr Maryam Buti Alsuwaidi, Chief Executive Officer of UAE Capital Markets regulatory authority, the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), over the past two years the market has seen a growth in the number of board seats held by women. “Now 59.1 percent of listed companies have at least one woman board member and 8.9 percent of all board members of listed companies being women,” she said.