Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo is an accomplished business leader and a public speaker with a proven track record of steering companies to become leading players in their fields across the MENA, Africa and APAC regions. After over five years at Checkout.com, Remo took on the role of General Manager, overseeing the end-to-end management and business strategy in the Middle East and North Africa. In his role, Abbondandolo is shaping the future of regional ecommerce through widespread seamless and secure digital payments, while bolstering data-powered insights to simplify complex payment landscapes for merchants in the region. Abbondandolo orchestrated Checkout.com’s acquiring license in the UAE, and is currently working hard with his teams to secure similar licensing in other countries across the region. His pioneering spirit combined with his deep understanding of the payments ecosystem have been instrumental in driving Checkout.com’s strategic growth in the MENA region. Remo brings a wealth of knowledge as a business leader and strategist from various industries. He oversaw the expansion of Africa’s largest online travel agency, Travelstart into the Middle East market. Prior to that, he was part of Africa Internet Accelerator (a Naspers’ investment) founding team which notably launched three of the fastest growing e-commerce businesses in South Africa. Abbondandolo was also a founding member of leading e-commerce companies The Iconic, Zalora as well as Lazada Australia and South East Asia. Remo holds a dual Master’s degree in Management of Innovation and New Technology from Bocconi University and Copenhagen Business School. He has also attended many professional courses at renowned universities such as Harvard university.