The Governance Dividend: Unlocking Growth for Women Founders in the MENA Region

The MENA region stands at the precipice of a generational entrepreneurial shift. An increasingly digitized economy, coupled with a growing pool of highly educated women, is reshaping traditional perceptions of who builds, leads, and scales businesses. Women founders are no longer outliers at the margins of the startup scene; they are visible actors driving innovation, employment, and new market creation.

This analysis, as a collaboration between the Pearl Initiative and Sheraa, positions governance not as an administrative burden, but as a strategic enabler. For women in MENA’s startup ecosystem, embedding governance practices early is both a signal of professionalism and a pathway to bridging persistent gaps in access to capital, visibility, and influence.