Majida Al-Hajji

Saudi Arabian social reformer who pioneered women's economic empowerment through microfinance

Majida Al-Hajji (b. 1975) transformed Saudi Arabia's economic landscape by establishing the Nawaya Foundation, the first women-led microfinance institution in the Gulf. Facing societal resistance, she created Sharia-compliant loan programs that helped 80,000+ Saudi women launch businesses between 2005-2020. Her Women in Retail Initiative trained 15,000 women in e-commerce during the pandemic, creating 3,000+ online stores. Al-Hajji's Daughters of the Desert documentary series (2018) highlighted female entrepreneurs across the Middle East, inspiring global investment in regional women's enterprises. She developed the Vision 2030 Gender Parity Index for the Saudi Ministry of Economy, and her 2019 book Breaking the Veil: Saudi Women's Economic Journey became a bestseller in Arabic business literature. Her work contributed to Saudi Arabia's 2022 inclusion in the World Bank's Top 100 Countries for Female Entrepreneurs.