What's A Wasta?

Have you heard the word wasta before and wondered what in the world people are talking about? Have you noticed people talking about vitamin W but were too shy to ask in fear of exposing your lack of nutritional knowledge? Are you new in Saudi and have been asked the question ayndak wasta but didn't know what to respond? Well chances are if you didn't know how to respond, you most likely don't have wasta!

Wasta translates roughly to "connections" or "influence" and the Arabic origin means "intermediate". Basically a wasta (also known as vitamin W) is a very influential person with good connections who can get things rolling for you. The wasta can be a relative, a friend, a business acquaintance or in some cases even a stranger.

In Saudi-Arabia a wasta is often a person from a royal background or family of enormous wealth. It will never hurt to know a high ranking influential Saudi Prince. They can pull the right strings and many obstacles will suddenly disappear. Royals are all about wasta!

On the other hand a wasta might be just a random someone that your friend or relative knows who happens to be in a position where he can influence others. He or she could help get a person a job, and sometimes things work the opposite way, they might also get you fired easily. Wasta is often used by Saudis to land a place in university or a job in management or other sought after placements. The sad truth is, the person who used wasta to obtain that position often went past many much more qualified candidates. That's why many Saudi companies have incompetent and unmotivated staff. Because of their wasta, they won't have to fear loosing their jobs even if they don't perform very well.

With good wasta a person can get practically anything done. Wasta can be more valuable than money. Having wasta makes life in Saudi much easier for the person with it, but for those without it or those impacted by their actions, it does the opposite. Wasta could be described also as the root of corruption.


A wasta is sort of like a genie in a bottle, but better. Instead of three wishes you can get as many as you wish!

Watch this educational and funny video to find out exactly what is meant by the power of vitamin W...