KONE Middle East & Africa Leadership Team

Headed by Nicolas Alchal, Managing Director for KONE Middle East and Africa, our Leadership Team ensures the smooth operations, business development and support for our customers in the region.

NICOLAS ALCHAL

Managing Director - KONE Middle East & Africa

Leading KONE Middle East & Africa’s business strategy today is Nicolas Alchal, an electrical engineer who enjoys over 20 years of experience, 11 of which he spent with KONE.

Nicolas started his career in the elevators and escalators industry in 2004, as a Project Manager. Throughout the years, he took on various roles and responsibilities in Beirut, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. In 2011, Nicolas joined KONE as the Managing Director for Qatar and Bahrain, responsible for boosting the business growth and driving development. He also took the role of Major Projects Director for KONE Middle East in 2015, to accommodate the growth and expansion happening in that period. By 2018, Nicolas became the Managing Director for UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain, where he had overall P&L responsibility of KONE’s business in the region, responsible for the customer management, employee safety and business development.

Taking his experience beyond the region, Nicolas was appointed as the New Equipment Business Director (NEB) for KONE South Europe, Middle East, and Africa as of June 2019, where he developed and implemented NEB strategy for the area, developing country specific action plans to achieve short- and long-term business goals. As of April 1, 2022, Nicolas is now leading the MEA region as Managing Director, responsible for business development, budget planning, driving profitability and the alignment of all operational activities within KONE’s guidelines and objectives.

Such exposure throughout the years gave him deep insights on various aspects of the industry and the business, making it no surprise then that Nicolas acts as the face of KONE in the region for both customers and stakeholders.

Along with an Executive MBA received from London Business School in 2012, Nicolas also holds a Master’s degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the Lebanese University in Beirut. He is fluent in Arabic, English and French.

GEORGES HABIB

Regional Maintenance Services Director

In 2017, Georges Habib joined KONE as the Service Director for Middle East and Africa, covering both Sales and Operations.

Habib joined KONE after a long career in the industry, working for international competitors in the MEA region. Throughout his 20 years of experience, he was assigned several managerial roles in different departments; from installation operations, to service and new sales.

Habib is now leading our service culture of customer mindset, ensuring the best people flow experience there could be.

Georges holds a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering. He loves spending time with his family and dog, and enjoys outdoor sports activities.

MORICE KARAMI

Regional Modernization Director

Morice joined KONE in 2008 and is most recently, the Modernization Director (VB) for KMEA. He has a master’s degree in Business administration from the American University in Dubai (AUD). Morice is responsible for developing and implementing strategies and programs that are align with the long term and short term modernization business objectives in KMEA.

MOHAMED SAMAHA

Regional New Equipment Director

Mohamed Samaha joined KONE in 2004. Before leading the New Equipment Business for KONE Middle East and Africa, he moved between different roles in the areas of sales, business development, export distribution, general management and acquisition.

Samaha is now primarily responsible for developing and implementing the New Equipment Business strategies in the region to achieve short- and long-term business goals.

MARIA MANZOOR

Regional HR Director

Maria Manzoor joined KONE in 2022 as Regional HR Director for Middle East and Africa, leading a team of HR Business Partners and Specialists across the region.
Maria started her career in 1998, and has since worked in the HR realm for various multinational companies in the MENA and APAC region.

Maria holds an M.A. in International Relations, is a Certified and ICF accredited Coach and a Cultural and Positive Intelligence expert.
Maria’s drive lies in helping people find their passion, purpose and develop their careers.

RONY ABOU DIWAN

Regional Operations Director

Rony Abou Diwan is the Operations Director for KONE Middle East & Africa, responsible for the quality, safety and operations aspect of the business. Rony joined KONE in 2013 as a regional quality manager. Throughout the years, he developed and progressed by gaining experience in the exports and distribution business as a regional director in 2014, then becoming KONE East Africa’s Managing Director in 2017. Prior to joining KONE, Rony acquired experience working as an installation project manager, as well as head of R&D.

RUBAN BILEN

Finance Director

With 21 years professional experience in large multinational Public Companies, Ruban Bilen handled progressive commercial, operational, and financial leading roles. Ruban’s seasoned expertise has allowed him to reinforce business development strategy, while overcoming challenges and finding solutions to maximize customer satisfaction & value, in turn driving company performance.

As the Regional CFO, KONE Middle East & Africa for the last 5 years, Ruban is responsible for Strategic Finance Leadership for 9 KONE direct operations as well as 60 markets served via Distributor partners across the Middle East, Africa & CIS, the largest geographical territory within KONE. He helped drive achievement of profitability targets for each year. Leveraging his outstanding skills, Ruban has helped to upskill Regional and country Finance teams to ensure continued success in the coming years.

MARIA RANTAMAA

Regional Head of Legal

Maria Rantamaa is the Head of Legal for Middle East and Africa. Maria started her career in private practice in 2007 and joined KONE in 2014. In her role, Maria leads a team of legal counsels as well as contract, commercial and compliance managers who support KONE’s business in the region.

Maria’s previous experience includes experience from the MEA region in legal counsel and senior legal counsel roles. She has also been the Head of Legal for KONE’s global sourcing organization. Prior to KONE, Maria specialized in M&A and Private Equity in a leading Northern European law firm and worked for Nokia Networks in Singapore.