THE MIDDLE EAST’S

35. Saeeda Jaffar; Leila Serhan

Company: Visa
Title: Saeeda: Senior Vice President & Group Country Manager—GCC
Leila: Senior Vice President & Group Country Manager—North Africa, Levant and Pakistan (NALP)
Nationality: Saeeda: Emirati
Leila: Lebanese
Sector: Banking and Financial Services

Both Serhan and Jaffar joined Visa in 2021. Between 2022 and 2023, Visa signed multiple strategic partnerships with fintech companies and mobile network operators, including Careem in the U.A.E. and stc pay in Saudi Arabia. In November 2023, Visa partnered with Mashreq and ecolytiq to launch MENA's first personal banking platform offering insights into carbon emissions. Saeeda is also a member of the board of trustees at the American University of Kuwait (AUK), and Serhan is the founder and president of the Women in IT Association in Lebanon.