This week, BBC Business Daily interviewed Dr Nahed Taher, the first woman to found and run a Middle Eastern bank.
The Saudi Arabian founded the Gulf One Investment Bank after a meteoric rise though the ranks of male-dominated companies.
Dr Nahed Taher began working in a bank where she was the only woman, in a workforce of 4000.
She says that although people were sceptical about her career choice at first, her own assent to power has been met by encouragement, rather than prejudice:
“I really found a lot of support, starting from the Royals, from the Government people, from the management and colleagues at the bank.
“They wanted to prevent any possible harm from coming to me – I was surprised, honestly.”
She feels that she was welcomed as a figurehead for gender equality in the Saudi banking sector: “People were desperate for somebody to lead the change”.
Dr Taher says she stayed at the bank to ensure that 50 women reached senior management positions before leaving to form her own business.
She admitted she “felt honestly sad” about a situation where she could run an investment bank but not legally drive herself to work, but expressed hope about change in the future:
“I respect my king, and I respect his decisions and I am sure that he will fight for us before we do.
I’m not being diplomatic – I feel it is coming soon.”Saudi Arabia came 130th out 134 countries in a 2009 gender gap report, and Saudi women are still not permitted to vote or drive.
in nisaa
