By Blossom Ukoha She is not there as a guest. She is not there to represent a family name or add diversity to a photograph. She is there because she owns the company, leads the strategy, sits on the board or has a decision to make. Outside, Dubai continues to project its familiar image of glass towers, luxury brands and spectacular ambition. But behind that polished skyline, another story is taking shape, one in which Emirati women are increasingly becoming builders of businesses, leaders of institutions and participants in decisions that shape the UAE economy. The numbers tell part of that story. In March 2026, the UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism reported that the country had 48,257 Emirati women entrepreneurs, while Emirati women owned or co-owned 114,050 SMEs across diverse economic sectors. The National SME Programme alone had attracted 2,700 Emirati women entrepreneurs. These figures matter because entrepreneurship is not…

By Blossom Ukoha For millions of people, a mobile phone is simply a device for communication. In Rwanda, under the leadership of Chantal Umutoni Kagame, it has become something much more powerful: a gateway to financial opportunity. As Chief Executive Officer of Mobile Money Rwanda Limited (MTN MoMo Rwanda), Chantal sits at the centre of one of Rwanda’s most significant digital transformation stories. Her work has helped expand mobile financial services beyond simple money transfers, creating an ecosystem through which people can send and receive money, pay merchants, save, access micro-loans and participate more fully in the formal economy. But Chantal’s journey to the helm of Rwanda’s fintech revolution did not happen overnight. It was built over more than two decades of experience across the country’s telecommunications industry. A Career Built Across Rwanda’s Telecom Industry Chantal holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce, specialising in Finance, from the Kigali Institute of…

By Blossom Ukoha “I am deeply honored to assume the role of CEO and lead Dow into our next chapter… Our focus remains unwavering: delivering reliable and innovative solutions for our customers, and long-term value for our employees and our shareholders, while accelerating our transformation to set a new competitive standard for best-in-class performance.” For Karen S. Carter, the words mark more than the beginning of a new executive assignment. They represent the culmination of more than three decades of growth, responsibility and leadership within Dow, one of the world’s largest materials science companies. On 1 July 2026, Carter became Chief Executive Officer of Dow, succeeding Jim Fitterling, who transitioned to Executive Chair of the Board. Named CEO-elect in April after serving as Chief Operating Officer, Carter became the first woman and the first Black woman to lead the 129-year-old company, which recorded approximately $40 billion in sales in 2025.…

By Blossom Ukoha “As I step into the C.E.O. role in September, my job will be to build on that foundation — to accelerate product breakthroughs, deepen the brand’s cultural relevance, and unlock growth in markets around the world.” For Heidi O’Neill, becoming Chief Executive Officer of Lululemon is not simply a move from one global sports brand to another. It is an opportunity to bring decades of experience in building consumer businesses to a company at an important crossroads. In April 2026, Lululemon Athletica named O’Neill as its next CEO, following an extensive search for a leader capable of combining creative brand-building with operational discipline. On 8 September 2026, she officially assumed the role and joined the company’s Board of Directors at its global headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia. She succeeds Calvin McDonald, who stepped down at the end of January amid pressure from founder Chip Wilson, activist investors…