DEAD SEA: There are many divides in Palestine — but for the territory’s largest bank that is, for once, the subject of some good news.
The Bank of Palestine says its board will have a fifty-fifty gender split within a couple of years — and its chairman has called for Norway-style quota systems for women in top management positions across the Middle East.
Hashim Shawa, group chairman of the Bank of Palestine, said 44 percent of the bank’s entire workforce are women, and that the board is on track for an equal divide.
“We will be the first bank I think in the Middle East and Arab world, and maybe one of the first in the world, to have a 50-50 quota at the board level. And that will be in the next board elections, which will be in a couple of years,” he said at the World Economic Forum meeting in Jordan.
“About 10 years ago, I looked at the workforce gender balance and we were at 12 percent female … no women on the board, no women in senior positions, managers, departments, or executive levels.
“Today we have three women out of 11 on the board, we’re about 44 percent gender balanced, and we have women branch managers, women heads of department. In the C-suite, our chief credit officer, risk management, chief of HR (are) women.”
Shawa said having more women employees, including those facing customers, had broad benefits to society.
“When men have to actually approach a woman to ask for a loan, this is how you change mindsets, and you change culture. And you achieve the goal of lifting the entire society,” he said.
The Middle East has woefully low levels of women in top management positions.
In the UAE, for example, just 1.5 percent of board seats in listed companies were held by women as of mid-2016 — well below the global average.
Shawa said that he advocates a quota system in the Middle East, whereby listed companies would be obliged to have a certain proportion of women on boards.
In 2003, Norway became the first country in the world to impose a gender quota, requiring listed firms to raise the proportion of women on their boards to at least 40 percent.
“It’s a really poor excuse to say, ‘ah there are not enough women with experience.’ And fundamentally, if you don’t mobilize 50 percent of your population you’ll always be 50 percent underdeveloped,” Shawa told Arab News.
“A lot of people talk about climate change and all the challenges we face, AI and all that stuff. But we need to really address this imbalance issue.”
Palestine banker calls for Mideast quotas for women board members
Palestine banker calls for Mideast quotas for women board members
- More than two in five Bank of Palestine employees are women
- Norway became first country to impose gender quotas
How AI is powering Saudi Arabia’s video games industry
- Technology is boosting efficiency and supporting local content development
RIYADH: Artificial intelligence is becoming a central force in Saudi Arabia’s rapidly expanding gaming and esports sector, shaping everything from game development and publishing to player analytics and competitive tournaments.
As the Kingdom accelerates its ambitions under Vision 2030, AI is increasingly being deployed not only as a technical tool but also as a strategic driver for industry growth and global competitiveness.
Saudi Arabia is integrating AI across studios, publishing platforms and esports operations to improve efficiency, expand local content creation, attract international investment and streamline tournament management. The broader goal is to position the Kingdom not only as one of the world’s largest gaming markets but also as a global hub for game development and esports infrastructure.
According to Saudi Arabia’s National Gaming and Esports Strategy, the Kingdom is home to more than 23.5 million gamers — around 67 percent of the population. Market revenues are projected to reach $1.36 billion by 2026. By 2030, the sector aims to contribute more than SR50 billion to the national GDP and create about 39,000 jobs.
Women represent 42 percent of gamers and 18 percent of esports players, among the highest participation rates in the region.
The Public Investment Fund, through its gaming arm Savvy Games Group, has invested billions of dollars in game studios, publishers and esports platforms worldwide. The investments are designed to strengthen local content creation while attracting global developers and investors to Saudi Arabia.
INNUMBERS
23.5 million Number of gamers in Saudi Arabia, representing about 67% of the population
$1.36 billion Revenue the Kingdom’s gaming market is expected to reach by 2026
SR50 billion Amount the gaming and esports sector aims to add to GDP to create 39,000 jobs by 2030
A spokesperson for Savvy Games Group told Arab News that AI is already integrated across its portfolio, particularly within ESL FACEIT Group.
“AI is used across our businesses. At ESL FACEIT Group, AI is already embedded in operations, particularly around data analytics and fair play,” the spokesperson told Arab News. “For example, EFG uses Minerva, an AI-powered moderation system that identifies and reduces toxic or abusive behavior by analyzing player communications and behavior patterns at scale. This enables faster and more consistent decisions and helps create healthier competitive environments for players.”
However, the spokesperson said AI itself does not automatically create a competitive advantage.
“AI tools are increasingly accessible to studios everywhere, which means they are not a competitive advantage on their own,” the spokesperson told Arab News. “The advantage comes from how clearly studios define their use cases and how effectively they apply AI to support their goals.”
For Saudi studios seeking international audiences, understanding how AI systems generate results is also critical to maintaining cultural accuracy and relevance in game content.
Within development studios, AI is helping accelerate production while lowering costs. AI-powered tools assist with concept art, 3D modeling, animation and world design, while automated testing systems can simulate thousands of gameplay scenarios to identify bugs and balance issues before release.
Steer Studios, for example, is applying AI in asset production and testing workflows. Automating repetitive tasks allows creative teams to devote more time to storytelling, gameplay design and world-building — key elements that distinguish successful games.
AI is also playing an important role in localizing content for Arabic-speaking audiences. Studios including Fahy Studios, Starvania Studio and Lobah Game Studio use AI for dialogue generation, translation and other localization tasks, helping Saudi-developed games reach global markets more quickly without losing cultural context.
For live-service and mobile games, maintaining player engagement is crucial to long-term revenue. AI systems track player behavior in real time, adjust difficulty levels, refine matchmaking systems and personalize in-game experiences.
Publishing platforms such as Nine66 and Sandsoft also rely on AI-driven analytics to support developers. These tools help predict player lifetime value, optimize marketing campaigns and manage online gaming communities.
“Our approach aligns closely with KSA’s focus on digital transformation, innovation and long-term capability building under Vision 2030,” the Savvy Games Group spokesperson told Arab News. “We see AI as an enabler of productivity, operational efficiency and ecosystem sustainability.”
The spokesperson added that partnerships, including collaboration with Humain, allow Saudi companies to explore scalable and responsible applications of AI across studios.
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“We take a pragmatic approach,” the spokesperson told Arab News. “We focus on technologies that provide real benefits. Any AI solution we use must improve efficiency and make day-to-day work easier.”
Artificial intelligence is also transforming the esports ecosystem.
Esports Infra — a platform created by Singapore-based Samarium in partnership with Saudi AI firm Wakeb — is designed to streamline the management of players, teams and content creators.
“Esports suffers from fragmentation,” Jonas Moaz, Esports Infra founder, told Arab News. “Talented players often don’t have a clear path to professionalism. Organizations struggle to find players, and content creators lack tools to connect with audiences.”
The platform uses machine learning to classify player skill levels, computer vision to analyze gameplay and predictive analytics to forecast development potential.
“We expect to improve the efficiency of building esports organizations — particularly in talent discovery and time management — by up to 50 percent,” Moaz told Arab News.
In addition to player analytics, the platform assists with scheduling, contract management and sponsorship evaluation, giving teams and brands clearer insights into performance and commercial value.
Despite AI’s growing role, its use in esports competition itself remains tightly regulated. Organizations such as the International Esports Federation prohibit AI from influencing live matches.
“We fully respect those regulations,” Moaz told Arab News. “Our tools support analysis but do not play on behalf of players. AI operates outside match time or as a statistical layer.”
Protecting player data and ensuring fairness remain key priorities for developers and platform providers.
“This is a top priority for us,” Moaz told Arab News. “Player data is encrypted and used only to improve the experience. To ensure fairness, we regularly audit our algorithms to prevent bias.”
Saudi Arabia’s gaming sector is steadily evolving from a consumer-driven market into a center for game creation and esports infrastructure. AI is embedded throughout this transformation — from accelerating game development and localization to analyzing player behavior and professionalizing competitive gaming.
If the targets outlined in Vision 2030 are achieved, AI will play a defining role not only in improving industry operations but also in helping Saudi Arabia compete globally in a sector increasingly driven by data, efficiency and advanced technology.
