The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Aurora50, a social enterprise focusing on achieving gender-balanced boardrooms in the UAE.

The partnership will advance female representation on public and private sector boards consistent with international best practice through knowledge exchange and building a strong pipeline of female talent.

The MoU was signed by Sheikha Shamma Bint Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, Co-Founder of Aurora50 and Abdulhamid M. Saeed Alahmadi, Governor of the Central Bank of the UAE, in a virtual ceremony, which took place recently. The ceremony was also attended by Dr Sabri Hamed Al Azazi, Chief Operating Officer of the CBUAE and Diana Wilde, co-founder of Aurora50, along with other representatives from both organisations.

Commenting on the partnership, Abdulhamid Alahmadi, CBUAE Governor, said, “The UAE has made remarkable progress in the past decade to increase the participation of women in the public and private sectors, and advancing gender equality is part of the UAE’s 2021 National Agenda. As a regulatory authority for licensed financial institutions in the UAE, we are committed to supporting the national agenda through engaging with the nomination committees of the Boards of financial institutions to ensure a fair representation of women on their Boards, as required by the CBUAE Corporate Governance regulation.”

The partnership between the CBUAE and Aurora50 aims to enhance and accelerate gender diversity in boardrooms and increase female representation. It provides a platform for knowledge sharing through conferences, meetings, seminars and workshops, and supports development of skills.

Sheikha Shamma Al Nahyan, Co-Founder of Aurora50, said, “The work that we do at Aurora50 and our Pathway20 initiative aims to develop resilient and high-performing boards based on the foundations of competence, diversity and inclusion. The partnership with the CBUAE reinforces the link between the representation of women on boards and national economic development. This is a positive step in the right direction, and we hope it encourages other organisations to accelerate their efforts towards more female representation at the board-level.”

Aurora50 has created an ecosystem of alliances and partnerships which include Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (ESCA), ADNOC, Mubadala Investment Company, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Abu Dhabi Ports, Emirates Global aluminium (EGA), Sandooq Al Watan, Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), Dubai Financial Market (DFM), Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Dubai Future Foundation, Egon Zehnder, Fidelio, Hawkamah, INSEAD, Nasdaq Dubai and LinkedIn.

Through its Pathway20 initiative, Aurora50 has been working with multiple stakeholders across the public and private sector to increase female representation on corporate boards and strengthen the talent pipeline of female directors.

Aurora50 and Sandooq Al Watan recently announced that they are joining forces to connect senior Emirati executive women with boards.

Through Sandooq al Watan’s Talent programme a prominent platform providing Emirati nationals aged 30 and above with five or more years of work experience the opportunity to become part of an elite group that will be considered for leadership positions in the government as well as the private sector.

Applicants nominate themselves using the platform, and are then evaluated based on their merit in a bid to find the UAE’s best and brightest talent.

Since its inception, the UAE Talent programme received 2,000 applications and shortlisted 19 candidates as top qualified future leaders, one of whom took on the role of Director-General of a non-profit organisation, and two were selected for the National Experts Programme.

Pathway20 will provide an important link as the next step for senior women to develop board careers, joining a pipeline of talented female directors.

The collaboration will support one female candidate to be nominated from the UAE Talent platform’s pool of candidates to join the Pathway20 initiative, which provides a pathway for talented, qualified executive women to also gain board-level experience, with the aim of increasing female representation at the board level.

“Sandooq Al Watan has a mandate to support talented Emirati individuals with growth opportunities to unleash their fullest potential,” asserted Ahmed Mahmoud Fikri, Acting Director-General of Sandooq Al Watan.”

WAM