Saudi Women Crowned Billionaires of the Middle East

According to a recent study conducted by the asset management firm Al Masah Capital, Saudi Arabian women have a whole lot of pennies in their piggy banks to the tune of about US$12 billion smackeroos. The cold hard cash is languishing in banks around the Gulf Kingdom, just waiting for several rainy days to strike. Can anyone say matching Prada purse and shoes..puh..leaze?

However, it is doubtful that the savvy Saudi savers will blow their substantial wealth on mere whim. In fact, according to the study, Saudi Arabian women just might be able to finally sit in the “driver’s seat” and finally put an end to their country’s total reliance on endless oil gushed cash crops.

Saudi women are in a position to seek new avenues to expand their country’s economic portfolio. In a recent interview, the CEO of Al Masah Capital, Shailesh Dash, commented, “Effective channeling of the huge funds held by Saudi women, that currently yield negligible returns into enterprises or investment activities, can earn profitable returns as well as boost money supply.”

However hopeful the projections for future investment opportunities for Saudi women may be, there are still some major stumbling blocks to their ascension to positions of power. Despite that fact that women comprise 45% of the Saudi Arabian population and most are highly educated, cultural bias will continue to hold back the progress of the Kingdom as a whole. More than 28% of Saudi Arabian women are unemployed and the ones that do hold jobs typically have zero prospects for advancement especially when the competition is male. Traveling within the Kingdom is also difficult for Saudi women. Strict laws legally bar women from driving and insist females must have a male relative to accompany them when out in public.

Source: Maktoob