Ronaldo Mouchawar

Vice president, Amazon MENA

Amazon MENA is rapidly growing across the Middle East, even as the Covid-19 pandemic has provided an impetus to the region’s e-commerce industry. The company announced a huge expansion in Saudi Arabia with plans to create at least 1,500 jobs across the kingdom by the end of this year. Meanwhile Amazon.ae also launched an ‘international shopping experience’ in 2020, allowing delivery from the UAE for customers in Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait. In June this year, Amazon commissioned its first MENA on-site renewable energy project in Dubai as part of its commitment globally to be net-zero carbon by 2040. The solar photovoltaic rooftop is located at DXB3, its largest fulfilment centre in the UAE, with regional head Ronaldo Mouchawar calling on all MENA businesses to join the company as signatories to The Climate Pledge. Mouchawar, who founded Souq.com in 2005 – and oversaw its acquisition by Amazon in 2017 – is a key player in the region’s e-commerce and startup space. Mouchawar formerly worked at Maktoob, the first Arabic/English email service provider, which was acquired by Yahoo! in 2009 for $164m.