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Life

by Camille Macawili
2 hours ago

In celebration of International Women’s Day, Haif Zamzam, Senior Vice President of Strategy & Marketing at TECOM Group PJSC, shares a written essay that highlights how the incredibly driven and entrepreneurial women in the UAE are driving transformational changes in the business landscape.
Here, Haif insights the initiatives in place, how the UAE has elevated the women in the various fields including creative, tech, and more. Plus, the milestones, opportunities, and challenges faced as they have built brands and organizations.
Haif Zamzam, Senior Vice President of Strategy & Marketing at TECOM Group PJSC
Responsible for overseeing the strategy and marketing teams, Haif leads the way in analysing short and long-term development that drives the goals onwards and upwards through a stellar combination of remarkable leadership and exceptional vision.
Scroll through the below to read her personal essay.
The UAE is demonstrating how empowering women can catalyse sustainable economic progress. Women’s leadership and innovation are driving growth across the country’s diversified economy, and their entrepreneurial spirit and expertise are transforming the business landscape.
Women are actively shaping the economy with their growing role in the country’s workforce, comprising about 75% of positions in the crucial education and health sectors, in addition to about 20% of the social affairs sector. Moreover, 23,000 Emirati businesswomen lead projects valued at over AED 50 billion and hold 15% of board positions in chambers of commerce and industry nationwide.
Far from being spectators, women are the architects of economic and social progress in the country. Achieving such progress requires consistent action, and the UAE’s global example must be lauded as International Women’s Day is observed this year under the theme of ‘Accelerate Action’.
Solid Foundations
The innumerable contributions of Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, the Mother of the Nation, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation, have laid the foundation of the UAE’s past, present, and future growth.
The pathways to advance women’s roles are further shaped by the guidance of Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE Gender Balance Council, President of Dubai Women Establishment (DWE), and wife of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister, and Chairman of the Presidential Court.
Image: Supplied
This is supported by women’s representation in key leadership roles. From Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi’s appointment as the UAE’s first female Cabinet minister in 2004 to the appointment of Khadija Al Bastaki, Senior Vice President of Dubai Design District (d3) to DWE’s board in 2024, women’s contributions – and potential – are nurtured at all levels of government. The UAE’s achievement of full parliamentary gender parity, as recognised by the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Gender Gap Report, exemplifies this progress.
Accelerating Action
As the accelerator of business excellence in Dubai and beyond, TECOM Group is actively nurturing an environment that encourages women-led innovation for the greater good. Women comprise one-third of our workforce, and our commitment to accelerating gender-balanced innovation is also reflected across the four sector-specific verticals of our in5 incubator, which has nurtured more than 1,000 start-ups since its inception in 2013.
Today, 30% of in5’s active start-ups are owned by women. The incubator’s repertoire of women-led businesses includes Peri.care, a femtech innovator under in5 Design and RelphaCare Technologies, a biotech firm at in5 Science, both of which demonstrate how women’s empowerment can contribute towards holistic, socially impactful innovation. Nurturing such female entrepreneurship and leadership is a key pillar of the National Policy for Empowerment of Emirati Women 2031, and with women representing 56% of STEM graduates from government universities, the future is promising for female-driven innovation in the country.
Such success is possible thanks to the UAE’s supportive policy environment, including robust legislation protecting women’s workplace rights, that enables consistent opportunities to empower women in the workforce. The private sector must proactively leverage these frameworks to create pathways for women to thrive and lead in all spheres of life – be it within or beyond the workplace.
Image: Instagram @tecomgroupdubai
Mentorship, particularly in high-growth sectors like technology and healthcare, is vital for women entrepreneurs and professionals. We activate such support through initiatives like TECOM Group’s Backyard Internet Talks at Dubai Internet City and The DSP Leadership Network at Dubai Science Park, which ensure professionals in these key knowledge economy sectors are routinely offered peer support and networking opportunities to achieve business and individual growth.
Such accelerated action, supported by strong policies and greater female representation in leadership, is essential to unlock sustainable economic growth. As we observe International Women’s Day this year, we must learn from the UAE’s successes to accelerate action that supports inclusive and gender-balanced socioeconomic prosperity.
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Image: Supplied & Unsplash More