THE MIDDLE EAST’S

40. 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: Emirati; Lebanese
Sector: Banking and Financial Services

Jaffar and Serhan joined Visa in 2021. In August 2021, Visa signed an MoU with the Arab Monetary Fund to support the growth and efficiency of cross-border payments between the Arab region and global markets. The company launched its global initiative “She’s Next” for the first time in MENA in July 2022 to empower women entrepreneurs in the U.A.E, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Morocco. In the same year, Visa collaborated with Meeza in Egypt under the patronage of the Central Bank of Egypt, HPS Switch in Morocco, and Daraz in Pakistan to launch a “Stay Secure” campaign to educate consumers about payment security. Jaffar also serves as a member of the board of trustees at Kuwait University, and Serhan is also the founder and president of the Women in IT Association in Lebanon.