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With a rapidly growing business landscape and a thriving start-up ecosystem, the MENA region is becoming an international business hub that is home to many successful entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs have made a significant impact in their respective industries and have achieved remarkable success over the years. Here are the top 10 best entrepreneurs in the Middle East in 2023.
Sara Al-Madani
Dr. Sara Al Madani is a well-known serial entrepreneur in the field of fashion, F&B, tech, marketing, and more. She is also the youngest board member of the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as well as a star on the hit TV show “Real Housewives Of Dubai.” She started her entrepreneurial journey at the age of 15 by starting an abaya brand. Following her success as a young entrepreneur and businesswoman, Sara was selected to inspire women in the UAE and the world to be more active and self-confident in order to achieve business success. Today, Dr.Sara runs multiple companies including a tech company in Los Angeles called Hulatek, a celebrity concierge company called HalaHi, a marketing agency, and a restaurant in Dubai called Shabarboush.
Kamal Jahid
kamal Jahid is a popular Morrocan serial entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of Meqnes, which specializes in handcrafted and luxurious leather bags for the sophisticated traveler, and Glamorous Pochette, which offers unique, high-quality pocket squares that will catch eyes and spark conversations wherever their wearers go. As well as the CEO and Co-founder of EastVIPS.com, Eastern Europe’s premier nightlife booking site, featuring the classiest, hottest clubs in Krakow and Warsaw.
Mohammed Khashoggi
Mohammed Khashoggi is a Jeddah-based Saudi entrepreneur who founded Ejaro, an Airbnb for cars, connecting local vehicle owners with individuals looking to rent vehicles. The vehicle owners get to make extra money from a car that they might not be using all the time and the renters according to Ejaros enjoy vehicles at up to 40 percent cheaper rates than the car rental companies. The renters can search for vehicles by area to find the ones nearby. In early 2021, Ejaro raised $850,000 in a seed round and continues to expand, looking at the UAE as its next market.
Amy Mowafi
Amy Mowafi is the Co-Founder and CEO of MO4 Network, a leading creative and media agency in Egypt, with offices in Cairo and Dubai. She was born and raised in the UK, moved to Egypt in 2002, and has been living there ever since. In 2014, she launched MO4 with her three brothers, which grew from a team of 6 people to over 200+ people presently. Today, MO4 is home to some of the most popular digital publications in the region, including Cairozoom.com, Cairoscene.com, Startupsceneme.com, Scenenoise.com, SceneArabia.com, SceneEats, Niftyscene and elfasla.com. She is also the author of the book : Fe-mail: The trials and tribulations of being a Good Egyptian Girl, a book where she talks about her dreams, family, and personal experiences as a businesswoman in Arab society.
Saana Azzam
Palestinian/Swedish national Saana Azzam, is an international speaker, public speaking coach, author, and co-founder of the tech platform called Experts Market, as well as the Founder and CIO (Chief Inspiration Officer) of Mena Speakers. Azzam graduated from the esteemed Stockholm School of Economics with a Master’s in Economics and earned the title ‘Female Economist of the Year’ in 2010. After working for big companies such as Saxo Bank Middle East, Swiss-based company MKS/Pamp, and American Express, she founded MENA Speakers, which connects hundreds of international and MENA-based professional speakers with events, corporations, and public institutions. The company currently has 100+ keynote speakers, event hosts, and moderators and also offers training in sales, public speaking, negotiation, and more.
Jouhayna Samawi
Jouhayna Samawi, is a Syrian entrepreneur, art collector, and co-founder of Ayyam Gallery. Along with her cousins, Jouhayna started Ayyam gallery in Damascus in 2006 to revive interest in Syria’s art history whilst at the same time nurturing the country’s growing contemporary art scene, bringing a new wave of Syrian artists to international attention. Ayyam became a huge success and expanded to the UAE, Lebanon, the UK, and Saudi Arabia. Jouhayna also played a pivotal role in helping timeless Syrian art pieces and artists escape Syria after the war tore the country apart.
Kaswara Al-Khatib
Kaswara Al-Khatib is a serial entrepreneur, founder of several media companies, marketer, and online media mogul who currently serves as the Chairman of Webedia Arabia.
Al-Khatib began his career as a marketer at Proctor and Gamble, before launching his own advertising agency – Full Stop Advertising back in 2002. Since then he grew the small independent creative boutique into a fully-fledged communication group including Advertising, Digital & Social Media, and Film Production to UTURN. UTURN, which is Kaswara’s most prominent venture, is an online entertainment network that breaks free from conventional media and provides Saudis, particularly young people, with relevant content that speaks directly to their social needs and aspirations.
Alaa Fadan
Alaa Fadan is CEO and chairman of Telfaz11, one of the leading creative media studios in the Kingdom. Under his leadership, Telfaz11 grew exponentially over the past 12 years, becoming one of the most prominent media companies in the region, representing a new generation of local creators and storytellers and crafting an ambitious vision for the evolving Saudi media industry. Alongside his role as CEO, Fadan also plays a key role as an executive producer in the creation of Telfaz 11’s different projects. These projects include the feature comedic film “Sattar,” KSA’s top-grossing local film and box office hit that took the top slot from “Avatar: The Way of Water,” and “Six Windows in the Desert,” the first anthology of short films from the Kingdom to stream on Netflix.
Saygin Yalcin
Saygin Yalcin is a Dubai-based entrepreneur of Turkish origin. He is the founder & CEO of the Middle East’s first & largest car-buying service, SellAnyCar.com, and the Founder of the first & largest online private shopping club in the ME, Sukar.com, which was acquired by Souq.com, making him a Partner at the Souq.com and Jabbar Internet Group, becoming the largest e-commerce company in the Arab world, with 3000+ employees. Yalcin has become one of the most prominent entrepreneurs in the region and has received many honors including Fortune magazine’s 40 under 40 lists, “Fastest Growing Company in the ME” forSellAnyCar.com and was named by The National Newspaper as a company that “has the potential to break the $1bn barrier.” Yalcine is also a prominent figure on social media with over 1 million subscribers on his Youtube channel and almost a million followers on Instagram.
Loulou Khazen Baz
Loulou Khazen is a young entrepreneur, startup consultant, investor, and podcaster. She founded Nabbesh in 2011, the first and largest online freelance marketplace in the Middle East & North Africa, which she later sold to Ureed in 2020. she then went on to establish Kickstart Ventures which is an angel network investing in startups and started her own podcast, Conversations with Loulou, which focuses on bringing out stories of entrepreneurs and business leaders primarily from the MENA region.
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