Ms. Ataya is the founding partner and CEO of Mumzworld, and has been on the Board of Directors of the Dubai Chamber for Digital Economy since 2011. In a conversation with May Yaccoub from UN News, she shared the challenges faced by businesswomen in the Middle East, and why she is committed to supporting them.
“I have been working in the digital economy in the MENA Region for the last two decades, and I have seen how it has gone through some revolutionary changes. The digitalization of the global economy is core to the way the world is moving, but women remain very underserved, and we need to bring more of them on board.
UNCTAD’s eTrade for Women is doing just that: it’s helping women by providing the information and resources that allow us women to have our voices heard and our contributions felt.
I’m looking forward to using my new role as a mentor, and sharing my knowledge, skills, and successes with other women in the region, as well as creating tools, information, and resources for them to tap into.
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On a mission to help mothers
I started my corporate career outside the Middle East, and I used those years to build the skillset that would allow me to return home to the region, and leverage what I have learned to build businesses in this part of the world and create value.
Mumzworld was built in 2011 to support women in the Arab world and help them to make informed decisions for their families. Before, access to products for them was limited, prices were very high, and an online community for mothers to tap into did not exist. We set out to solve these problems, and built up a business that reaches the homes of more than 2.5 million mothers, with the largest offer of quality products in the region, and which has become the go-to destination for global brands that want to reach Middle Eastern consumers.
Today we have over 350 staff, with over 6,000 brands and more than 300,000 products for sale on the website: a successful, homegrown business that has become a gold standard, and has created momentum for other women to succeed and create more jobs in the region.
Conor Lennon/ UN News
View of Business Bay, Dubai, from the JW Marriott Marquis
A male-dominated industry
The e-commerce industry in the Middle East is heavily male-dominated, from suppliers, to delivery companies and financiers. For a woman operating in this space, this can be a big challenge: you have to use your unique skills and abilities to manoeuvre through the corporate maze and succeed.
The good news is that, when women do succeed and build scalable businesses, we give other women the courage to also come in and start their own ventures.
I have been helped by the fact that my husband and three teenage sons are very understanding. Their support has been instrumental in my success, because an entrepreneur has to compromise, sacrifice time and give a tremendous amount of effort, financial risk and compromise in order to build a successful company.”
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
