Microsoft has announced that it has appointed Samer Abu-Ltaif as Corporate VP and President for the region of Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMA).
Until this point, Samer was leading Microsoft in Middle East and Africa. With this announcement, Microsoft will bring its Central and Eastern Europe, as well as its Middle East and Africa operations, together to form CEMA and empower customers, partners, and people across 109 countries to achieve more.
“We are bringing two of Microsoft’s most unique and diverse teams together to create one unified team that will share and combine strengths, talents and expertise to empower customers across three continents to achieve more,” said Samer Abu-Ltaif, Microsoft Corporate VP and President, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa said.
“Our CEMA team have done extraordinary work to accelerate the digital agenda within their markets. As we bring our efforts together, we unleash greater possibilities for our teams to drive even more impact for our customers, partners, and communities across this diverse and vibrant area.”
Samer has served in numerous leadership roles within Microsoft’s MEA structure for nearly two decades. His dedication to supporting governments, enterprises, startups, communities, and people to harness the power of technology has seen him lead multiple crucial strategic initiatives that have helped various markets address some of their greatest challenges.
During Samer’s tenure as President of MEA, Microsoft announced its cloud datacenters in South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and most recently Saudi Arabia.
His passion for youth development also enabled the launch of countless skills development programs to provide thousands of young people with access to the skills, technology, networks, and opportunities they need to succeed in the digital era. And his commitment to accelerating the region’s sustainability agenda has helped numerous governments, businesses and startups access key tools and solutions that will go a long way in creating a more sustainable future for future generations.
A core focus for Samer throughout his career has been to empower Africa. He was instrumental in driving Microsoft’s $100 million investment into the Africa Development Centers in Lagos, Nigeria and Nairobi, Kenya launched in 2019, which aims to empower African software engineers, partners, academia, governments and developers to develop locally and scale for global impact. Microsoft also launched the Africa Transformation Office under Samer’s leadership, to enable digital transformation powered by Africans for Africa by partnering with public and private organizations to foster economic prosperity. In 2022, ATO launched a new initiative aimed at accelerating the growth of 10,000 African startups.
