Top 10: Supply Chain Leaders in MEA

The Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is undergoing a period of transformation, with more leaders turning towards sustainability initiatives and digital transformation. 

Supply chain has moved to the forefront of business operations, with strategies proving vital in developing resilience and strong supplier relationships.

This is all led by leaders who have keen insights into successful transformation and navigating complex global networks.

The region's most iconic brands are developing new benchmarks for supply chain excellence, led by their CEOs, CSCOs and VPs. 

Today, Supply Chain Digital takes a look at the top 10 supply chain leaders in the MEA region.

10. Cem Sonat Yuksel

Title: Supply Chain Director - Vodafone Türkiye​​​​​​​
Company: Vodafone
Country: Istanbul, Türkiye

Cem has more than 20 years of experience in supply chain and procurement management, which has shaped his decisive leadership style. He is constantly working towards improvements, within himself, his team and his supply chain operations.

Before joining Vodafone, Cem worked at Siemens for more than 15 years. Throughout his career, he has specialised in localisation, strategic sourcing, digitalisation in the supply chain and logistics management. 

9. Oriol Tolo

Title: Supply Chain Director - Middle East
Company: SEPHORA
Country: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

In his role, Oriol is confident in operations and business strategy, with a focus on engaging people to deliver sustained performance across operations. He has more than 19 years of experience in leadership roles throughout the supply chain, having overseen numerous end-to-end transformations.

At Sephora, Oriol is working to eliminate waste, extract value and growth both the company and its people. Prior to this role, he worked at Nestlé for more than 15 years.

8. Vittorio Fico

Title: Chief Operations Officer
Company: L’Oréal
Country: Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Vittorio has led supply chains around the world, including in Milan, Paris, Australia and Dubai. Through this, he has navigated complexity and driven impact, inspired by the people he works with.

As well as leading operations at L’Oréal, he is also a life and career coach. In this role, he works to empower professionals and expats, helping them gain stability and confidence in the work place. 

7. Ayman Elrafie

Title: MEA Head of Supply Chain - Nestlé Waters
Company: Nestlé
Country: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

With more than 18 years of experience in supply chain, E2E, logistics and manufacturing, Ayman has built a wide group of high-performing teams. Much of his work has focussed on developing cross-functional collaboration, while ensuring capabilities meet business objectives.

He is currently leading large-scale transformation for Nestlé across the MEA region, specifically looking to boost, growth efficiency and profitability across the business.

6. Martin Rifai

Title: Vice President of Supply Chain and Operations
Company: Beiersdorf​​​​​​​
Country: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Martin recently joined Beiersdorf after eight years at Amazon and 17 years at Procter & Gamble. Throughout his career, he has lead operations and supply chains around the world, including in Canada, Switzerland and Russia.

He looks towards a collaborative and educational career at Beiersdorf, where he will bring his global experience in leadership in order to share the future of the company.

5. Cassie Mackie

Title: Vice President Procurement & Supply Chain
Company: Etihad Airways
Country: Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates

Cassie is responsible for the cost transformation of Etihad Airways, following the navigation of COVID disruption. She has worked to ensure it remains resilience and compliant amid ongoing turbulence and regulations.

She has more than 20 years of experience in leading companies to deliver operational excellence, as well as innovation and sustainable value creation. Her specialities lie in end-to-end supply chain management, risk management and supplier relationship management.

4. Mohamed Waheed

Title: Vice President Global Supply Chain - Middle East & Africa
Company: Schneider Electric
Country: Cairo, Egypt

Mohammed has worked at Schneider Electric for more than 20 years, making his way through the leadership ladder throughout his time. In 2021, he became Vice President Global Supply Chain - Middle East & Africa.

Throughout this time, he has pushed his team to excellence, resulting in Schneider Electric winning the Supply Chain Visibility Award MEA-2025.

3. Ashish Sood

Title: Chief Supply Chain Officer
Company: Landmark Group
Country: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Ashish has had an extensive career, working across global giants in the supply chain sector. Before joining Landmark Group in 2024, he worked at Amazon, PepsiCo and Accenture.

As he made his way up through leadership positions, he has led transformation projects across supply chain planning, transportation and more. Now, he leads the end-to-end supply chain across ecommerce and retail, transforming customer experience and cutting costs.

2. Orkun Saruhanoglu

Title: CEO MEA
Company: DHL Supply Chain
Country: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Orkun has worked across DHL operations since 2006, gaining various roles of leadership and expertise. He has worked across Turkey, Poland, Dubai and more, meaning he has immense experience in leading diverse teams across nations.

He joined the Supply Chain arm of the company in 2015, as Managing Director for Turkey. Now, he holds the position of CEO of the Middle East & Africa region, brining his thorough understanding of the company to the role.

In his role, he has helped oversee the expansion of the supply chain arm, including a new multi-sector logistics hub in Türkiye, which is part of the company's commitment to the area. He is also dedicated to building resilient and future-ready supply chains in a collaborative way with customers. 

1. Damaris Aracil

Title: MEA Supply Chain Director
Company: Kimberly-Clark
Country: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Damaris has more than 20 years of experience working in multinational companies, with strong leadership capabilities across multifunctional teams. She joined Kimberly-Clark in 2009 as a CBU Manager, situated in Madrid. Since then, she has worked her way up the ladder, gaining experience in coordination, project management and more.

Throughout this time, she has worked across a range of regions, including California, Switzerland and Dubai.

Since 2021, Damaris has been the MEA Supply Chain Director, leading operations and providing strategic vision. Part of her leadership involves the mentoring of staff in order to establish high standards and confidence within the team. 

She defines her leadership style as 'customer and results-oriented', with a strong ability to work in dynamic environments and leading diverse teams.