Vice President of Amazon Middle East, Africa, and Turkey

Ronaldo Mouchawar is an entrepreneur and a pioneer of e-commerce in the Middle East and Africa region. He is best known as the co-founder and former CEO of Souq.com, which he scaled into the largest e-commerce retailer in the Arab world. In 2017, Amazon acquired Souq.com for $580 million, marking a historic moment for the region’s tech ecosystem. Mouchawar now serves as the Vice President of Amazon Middle East, Africa, and Turkey. He leads Amazon’s business across the region, guided by four core principles: customer obsession, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Souq.com was launched in the UAE in 2005 and quickly expanded under Mouchawar’s leadership to several key locales including Saudi Arabia and Egypt. He further strengthened the company’s infrastructure by launching PayFort (now Amazon Payment Services), which became a leading online payment service provider in the region, and Q- Express, a logistics arm designed to enhance delivery capabilities. In 2014, Ronaldo introduced the White Friday Sale, which went on to become the most popular annual shopping event in the region. In 2016, Souq.com raised USD $275 million in what was then the Arab world’s largest tech funding round, achieving a valuation of over USD1 billion and becoming the region's first unicorn. Investors included Tiger Global, Naspers, IFC of the World Bank, Standard Chartered Private Equity, Baillie Gifford and Sovereign Wealth Funds. Following Amazon’s acquisition, Mouchawar led the seamless integration of Souq.com and Amazon, launching Amazon.ae in 2019, Amazon.sa in 2020, and Amazon.eg in 2021. Under his leadership, Amazon Prime rolled out in the UAE (2019), Saudi Arabia (2021), and Egypt (2022). A champion for localized innovation, he also ensured Arabic became a cornerstone of the customer experience—setting a new standard for tech localization in the region. Outside Amazon, Mouchawar has been an active investor and mentor. He served as a board director for Instashop, a homegrown UAE grocery app, after investing in the business in 2017. Instashop was later acquired in 2020 by Delivery Hero for over USD $350 million, marked as the third-largest tech exit in the region.