MENA Executive Board

Sam Alkharrat is the Managing Director for SAP Middle East and North Africa. In this role, he is responsible for leading the Strategy and Operations of SAP’s business across the region, which has today become one of SAP’s fastest growing markets.

Prior to joining SAP in August 2010, Sam spent sixteen years with Cisco where he held several leadership roles, including leading the company’s Gulf and Pakistan business, as well as leading the company’s Technical Operations across the Middle East, the Mediterranean, South Africa, and Central Europe. Sam also served as a strong advisor on the development of new business models that link markets together for national economic development.

Most recently, Sam led Cisco’s Public Sector business across Emerging Markets, with responsibility for the segment’s strategy and operations in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa regions

Sam holds a Bachelor in Electrical and Computer Science Engineering from the University of Toledo in the United States and a Global Executive MBA from Duke University. He is also a certified Master Behavioural Coach.

Abdul-Raheem Bawazeer is Managing Director for SAP Saudi Arabia, responsible for the overall operations including strategic planning, operational excellence, sales and field operations, professional services and overall performance across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

During his career Abdul Raheem has held various senior executive leadership roles in KSA with more than 20 years of experience in the Saudi market. Before joining SAP he was General Manager of Dell Saudi Arabia as well as Public Sector Manager and Regional Director of HP’s Middle East Government Sector. Abdul Raheem further worked with Microsoft Arabia for over two years as Manager for the Government Sector and Manager for the Western region.

Adbul-Raheem holds a Bachelors degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals in Saudi Arabia. He is fluent in both Arabic and English.

Kevin Scott is the Country Manager for SAP MENA Growth Markets, which includes Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, amongst others, as well as the interim Country Manager for SAP UAE.

Kevin has been with SAP for over six years where he held several leadership positions, most recently as the Head of Portfolio Industries for Middle East and North Africa as well as South Eastern Europe.

Previously, he led the Large Enterprise organization for the Middle East and North Africa, we he helped drive the growth of the regional business and expanded SAP’s footprint in key industries including Banking, Manufacturing, Oil & Gas, Public Sector, and Trading Services.

Kevin joined SAP in 2005 as the Chief Operating Officer in MENA, where his responsibilities included communicating the value of SAP’s solutions, and facilitating technical excellence and positive return on investment for customers.

Before joining SAP, Kevin held several leadership positions at HP EMEA and Emerging Markets. He was further responsible for the design and launch of HP’s National Identification System and represented the company at the World Bank and the European Union.

Kevin Holds a Bachelors Degree from Sheffield Hallam University and a Masters degree in Business Administration from Warwick University, both in the UK.

Amr Ghoneim is the Country Manager for SAP Egypt responsible for the company’s sales, planning, strategy, and marketing activities in one of the fastest growing markets for SAP in Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Amr joins SAP from the role of Regional Client Executive of IBM MEA, a position which he has held since June 2010. Prior to this, he was appointed General Manager, IBM Egypt in April 2004 where he played an instrumental role in growing the company’s business, gaining market share and expanding the workforce, as well as developed a series of key strategic partnerships with the Egyptian Government.

Ghoneim joined IBM Egypt in 1988 where he held several leadership positions including Manager of IBM’s Systems Technology Group, Sales Manager for Large Accounts, and Sales Manager of Government sector.

He has also played a significant leadership role in supporting a range of diversity / social responsibility projects in Egypt to support the causes of women empowerment and people with disability.

Ghoneim is a member of the Board of Trustees of Egypt e-University in Cairo, a member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, and EIEF.

Ghoneim holds a Bachelor of Electronic Engineering Degree from Cairo University.

Gergi Abboud is the Country Manager for SAP Qatar and Kuwait, responsible for developing the company’s in-country presence and growth strategy.

Gergi brings with him over 10 years of experience in working with various IT multinationals in the Middle East and Africa region. Most recently, he held the position of Regional Sales Manager for Cisco in Qatar, where he built the company’s enterprise business, led the public sector team, as well as grew the commercial business in Qatar, Oman and Afghanistan.

Gergi started his career with Sun Microsystems as a Systems Engineers and quickly grew to take the roles of Enterprise Sales Manager, followed by sales lead for the company’s large accounts.

Gergi received his Bachelor Degree in Computer and Communications Engineering from the American University of Beirut.

Frank Peederman is the Chief Operating Officer for SAP Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In this role, Peederman is responsible for Marketing, Solutions, Pre-Sales, Industries, Value Engineering, and Business Operations. He is primarily focused on ensuring smooth and efficient business operations to support the growth of SAP across the region.

Peerdeman joined SAP in 2006 and began his career as Head of Value Engineering, Benelux. Prior to assuming his current role he held the position of Head of Business Operations for MENA.

Before joining SAP Peerdeman worked for a Dutch family-owned trading company, Pon, and strategic consultancy firm A.T. Kearney. In the position of strategic manager, he has built an extensive background in the development of business and IT strategies, in various industries including Oil&Gas, Insurance and Automotive.

Peerdeman has a PhD in Isotope Chemistry from the Australian National University and holds an executive MBA degree from the University of Michigan Business School in the USA.

George Riding is the Chief Financial Officer for SAP Middle East and North Africa (MENA), responsible for directing and monitoring all aspects related to the financial health of the organization, including treasury, finance, legal, accounting, budgeting and administrative functions.

Prior to taking this role, George was the Head of EMEA Sales Controlling at SAP where he led the team responsible for driving and implementing best practices, improving visibility into the business through better reporting and supporting the EMEA management in maximizing operational profitability and efficiency.

He joined SAP in the United Kingdom in 2000 as the Financial Accounting Manager and quickly grew to take on a variety of senior roles within the Finance Organisation.

George is a member of the Chartered Institutes of Management Accountants and a graduate from King’s College London in the United Kingdom.

Mehmood Khan is the Head of Field Services for SAP Middle East & North Africa (MENA), responsible for driving the company’s value agenda, lowering operational costs and delivering a competitive advantage to customers across the region.

Mehmood joined SAP in 2004 as a member of the Business Consulting team in South Africa, where he focused on driving customer engagements and developing market unit specific services. He then moved to lead the country’s Value Engineering team before he moved on to take the role of Consulting Sales Head for South Africa.

With an extensive background in business and management consulting, Mehmood has worked for both Accenture and PwC. He has in-depth expertise in developing and executing IT strategies for local and global organizations within the public sector, FMCG and petrochemical industries.

Khan holds a Post Graduate Degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

Melvina Tarazi has over 20 years of technology and business experience across multiple disciplines and industries. Throughout her career, she has worked with C-level executives to leverage information and communications technology (ICT) to solve business challenges and deliver quantifiable ROI. She successfully led multiple IT and consulting organizations across diverse geographies.

Prior to joining SAP, Melvina held the position of Chief Information Officer at Majid Al Futtaim Group, a leading regional conglomerate with interests in shopping malls, hypermarkets and leisure.

Melvina has previously spent 18 years with Oracle Corporation in the United States and the Middle East. Her last position with Oracle was to lead Oracle’s Insight and IT Strategy Group in the MENA region, where she worked with C-level executives to realize business value and drive increased efficiency in core business processes. Prior to that, she held multiple leadership roles in Oracle Consulting (mainly in the US), where she managed and delivered large scale system implementation projects in the areas of ERP, SCM, eCommerce, CRM, Data Warehouses, Business Intelligence, Case Management, Database Marketing, Claims Management, and Performance Management for Fortune 500 companies and government agencies.

Melvina holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science and Management Information Systems from MIT and the MIT Sloan School of Management as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT. She currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Information Technology Department at the American University of Dubai.

Mazen Jabri is the Head of Channels and Ecosystem for SAP Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In this role, he is responsible for expanding the company’s regional ecosystem, driving channel sales, inside sales, partner recruitment, certification, alignment and coverage, and ensuring partner education, enablement and quality delivery.

Prior to joining SAP, Mazen held the position of Managing Director for Global Knowledge, one of the largest providers of professional Business and IT Learning Solutions worldwide, across Emerging Markets. In this role, he was responsible for rebuilding the company’s local operation, Synergy Professional Services, expanding the team and ensuring alignment with the global group.

Previously, Mazen was the General Manager for Cisco in the UAE (2006 – 2009), with the responsibility of driving the company’s business in one of its fastest growing markets. Under his leadership, Mazen was able to grow the business exponentially and his team grew from 25 to over 85 people over a three year period.

Mazen started his career at Gulf Stars in Saudi Arabia for nearly 10 years before moving to Abdullatif Jameel as a Business Development Manager.

Mazen holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the American University of Beirut and a Master’s of Science in Engineering from the University of Texas in Austin.

Selim J. Eddé is the Government Relations Lead for SAP in Middle East and North Africa (MENA), responsible for creating strong alignments and driving thought leadership with governments across the region.

Selim joins SAP from Cisco where he most recently led the Education vertical in Emerging Markets, as part of the Public Sector organization. In this role, he was responsible for developing country strategies and execution plans on the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to further the economic and social development of a Country with a particular focus on Education.

Drawing on worldwide best practices, Eddé had devised a Country Development methodology on how to implement nationwide ICT initiatives impacting social and economic development. He further developed sustainable business model frameworks for Public Sector organizations, addressing the specific needs of the Emerging Markets Countries. Eddé specializes in People-Public-Private Partnerships as well as the alignment of ICT with business objectives.

Eddé has an intimate knowledge of key industries at the heart of community development: Education, Healthcare, Policies in the Telecom sector (TRA), Financial sector, and the small and Medium Size Enterprises (SME) market.

He has previously worked for global companies including IBM Global Services and Hewlett Packard, and was also involved in two business start ups in Canada. Eddé holds a Masters in Management Science from Imperial College, and a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Kings College, London University.

Nelly Boustany has over 11 years of leadership experience overseeing human resources for companies during periods of strategic expansion.

Nelly joins SAP after spending more than four years with Nokia Siemens Networks MEA, where she most recently held the role of Talent, Leadership and Organizational Development Manager. In this role, she was responsible for regional recruiting and induction, talent and leadership development, as well as setting the strategy and leading the execution of global initiatives, including leadership workshops, diversity planning, amongst others.

Prior to this, Nelly was the Human Resources Manager for Siemens Middle East were she led the HR team for the Mobile Networks Division across the region.

Nelly received her Bachelors in Computer Science from Haigazian University in Beirut, Lebanon, as well as an MBA from Notre Dame University in Lebanon.