Increasing the number of women in the workforce in the Middle East and North Africa could raise the region's gross domestic product by up to 57 per cent — or up to $2 trillion — a report by PwC showed.
Employers should support the professional aspirations of women by establishing better diversity strategies and reinforcing supportive workplace cultures, which are critical steps to effectively attract, recruit and retain talented young women, the MENA Women in Work Survey 2022 found.
“Identifying, developing, promoting and retaining women is essential for the success of our business and our region more broadly,” said Hani Ashkar, senior partner at PwC Middle East.
“Key takeaways [from the report] … include encouraging employers to create a strategy that includes investing in skills, reforming cultures, embedding equitable workplace policies, respecting personal time and well-being as well as developing metrics to actively track the progress in supporting female employees,” Mr Ashkar said.
PwC surveyed 1,500 women aged 18 to 35 across Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE in January. In total, these countries are home to about 81 million people and have a combined economy of roughly $2tn.
In recent years, women in the workforce have made “unprecedented gains”, but the Mena region has yet to reap the full potential of their participation in the economy.
The greatest advances in women's labour force participation in recent years have been achieved in GCC countries, particularly the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the report found.
However, while 40 per cent of working-age women in the GCC are employed, 64 per cent are employed throughout the countries the make up the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the consultancy said, citing data from the International Labour Organisation.
In Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the region’s three largest economies, less than 20 per cent of all senior managers are women, PwC said.
While 84 per cent of those surveyed across the Mena region aspire to become leaders in their fields, women employees said work is not their only priority. About 80 per cent said that it is important to play a leading role in looking after their families.
About 94 per cent of the surveyed women said a “work-life balance” and “training and development opportunities” were their most valued employer characteristics — but only 62 per cent of women felt their employers satisfactorily fulfil their needs in these areas.
“We welcome all initiatives in the Mena region that aim in advancing women’s careers, which requires a multi-party approach in order for any progress to be sustainable,” said Norma Taki, inclusion and diversity leader at PwC Middle East.
Identifying, developing, promoting and retaining women is essential for the success of our business and our region more broadly
Hani Ashkar,
PwC Middle East senior partner
“Governments should continue to support women on a policy level and companies should take a more proactive approach in creating workplace environments conducive to women’s success,” Ms Taki said.
Employers must offer a good work-life balance, flexible working hours and the option to work remotely to encourage the participation of more women, the report said.
They should also engage with women employees to identify problem areas and reform workplaces dominated by men.
Employers, policymakers and academic institutions should collaborate to identify skills and training aimed at women to ensure that they develop future-ready skills, the report added.
The availability of role models at senior levels is also an important form of “motivation and encouragement for young women”.
The survey found that 72 per cent of those surveyed said there is adequate representation of women at senior levels in the region.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Results
Stage 7:
1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29
2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time
3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious
4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5. Cees Bol (NED) Team DSM
General Classification:
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 24:00:28
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35
3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02
4. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:42
5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45
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The%20specs%20
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RESULT
Los Angeles Galaxy 2 Manchester United 5
Galaxy: Dos Santos (79', 88')
United: Rashford (2', 20'), Fellaini (26'), Mkhitaryan (67'), Martial (72')
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
