Informa Telecoms and Media is pleased to announce the participation Chris Gabriel, CEO of Zain Africa, as a keynote speaker at AfricaCom, the continent's annual congress for telecommunications professionals. His presentation will give an update on Zain's strategy as one of Africa's leading telecommunications operator groups. "2008 has been a very busy year for Zain group in Africa, with the re-branding from Celtel, the extension of the One Network, and extraordinary growth in our 15 operations on the continent, Mr Gabriel says. AfricaCom will be an occasion to reflect on Zain's leadership in Africa's telecommunications market and on our strategy as part of a group with a global vision". Chris Gabriel was appointed CEO of Zain Africa in December 2007. He oversees all Zain's operations in Africa, serving over 33 million active customers.
He joins a group of over 20 C-level representatives of Africa's major telecommunications operators, including large regional groups such as MTN (represented by Tim Lowry, VP for Southern and East Africa region, and MD of MTN South Africa), Vodacom (with Nkateko Nyoka, Group Chief Officer – Regulatory and Stakeholder Relations), and Orange (with Marc Rennard, EVP & Head of International Operations for Africa, Middle East & Asia). Newcomers and smaller but growing groups will be represented as well, to give a fresh perspective of the opportunities in the continent's changing market, with Dr Sultan Bahabri, Chairman of Hits Africa, Michael P Foley, CEO - Africa, Essar Communications Holdings Ltd (parent company of Econet Wireless), or Patrick Kouame (CEO of regional ISP Alink Telecom International). Operators at country level and smaller services providers will be heavily represented as well, with the CEOs of Safaricom (Kenya), Atlantique Telecom (Ivory Coast), MTC (Namibia ), Vodacom (Mozambique and Tanzania), Flashcom (Kenya), Virgin Mobile (South Africa), Benson Informatics Limited (Tanzania) and more.
AfricaCom will take place for the 11th time in Cape Town, South Africa on 18th and 19th November. The programme will include over 70 speakers representing the continent's leading telecommunications businesses, with strategic keynote sessions and specialist streams to address all the key issues in the market. This year's event includes brand new sessions, covering among other topics sustainable telecommunications, improving access to the Internet, branding, value-added services, mobile finance and more. "The conference agenda reflects the dynamism of Africa's communications market by covering all aspects from the technical side of deploying and maintaining networks to developing services that will attract new customers and increase ARPU", says Julie Rey, Head of Africa & Asia-Pacific for the Com World Series.
In addition, the brand new AfricaCom Awards will be launched at the end of the first day of the congress, recognising excellence in Africa's telecommunications market.
For more information on the congress, the programme, and how to participate, please visit www.comworldseries-africa.com
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NOTES FOR JOURNALISTS
African Telecoms Market Overview:
Africa 's telecommunications market is one of the most vibrant worldwide. In the mobile segment, subscriptions grew by 41% between March 2007 and March 2008 to reach 300 million. In comparison, the global mobile subscriptions growth rate was 24% during the same period. Informa Telecoms & Media forecasts indicate African
mobile subscriptions will exceed half a billion by 2013, with the current (June-08) 34% penetration rate to reach 44% by that date. In early 2008, Nigeria became Africa's largest market, growing by 42% over the year to March 2008 to reach the 46 million subscriber mark. In 1Q08, Nigeria accounted for 15% of the continent's mobile market.
With around 24 million active lines in mid-2008, the fixed segment represents a marginal share of the telecommunications activity in Africa. PSTN subscriptions have been declining in South Africa, due to continued fixed to mobile substitution, while prepaid solutions and fi xed broadband growth drove the wireline segment to grow slightly in major markets such as Egypt or Morocco. Over the past 2-3 years fixed operators in several markets have expanded their network reach by deploying CDMA Wireless Local Loops. Many of them are looking to offer full mobility networks as converged licensing frameworks are being implemented. Out of 33 networks launched in 2007, 17 were CDMA networks, 9 GSM and 7 W-CDMA.
Broadband access is becoming more widely available in Africa: the number of fixed broadband subscriptions passed the 2 million mark in 1Q08. In the meantime mobile broadband is spreading and as of July 2008, HSDPA was implemented in 13 markets and EV-DO in 19 markets. With around 730,000 HSDPA active subscriptions and
less than 300,000 EV-DO subscriptions in 1Q08, Informa estimates the fi xed and mobile broadband penetration rate at slightly less than 0.5%. The African broadband segment is now attracting increased investment, mostly in mobile technologies and WiMAX.
About AfricaCom:
Part of the renowned Com World Series, AfricaCom 2008 is the largest annual communications event dedicated to Africa, providing a meeting place for operators, regulators, investors and vendors from across the continent to debate the future of telecommunications in their marketplace, and to network with colleagues and international telecom experts.
In 2008, over 3500 participants, 70 speakers and 180 exhibitors are expected to attend the event, representing the whole communications value chain, from GSM and CDMA operators, ISPs, regulators and government bodies, telecommunications solutions vendors, investors, analysts and more.
The event is supported by the GSM Association, the African CDMA Forum, the NEPAD Council, the World Wide Web Consortium, the Open Mobile Alliance and the Global Mobile Suppliers Association.
For more information on this event and how to take part, visit our website: www.comworldseries-africa.com
About Informa Telecoms & Media:
Informa Telecoms & Media is the leading provider of business intelligence and strategic marketing solutions to the global telecoms and media markets.
Driven by constant first-hand contact with the industry our 90 analysts and researchers produce a range of intelligence services including news and analytical products, in-depth market reports and datasets focused to technology, strategy and content.
Informa Telecoms & Media also organises more than 125 annual events, attended by more than 70,000 executives. In addition to the Com World Series, our events cover subjects as diverse as fixed and mobile operator strategy, technology, TV, mobile music and games.
Contacts:
For more information on the event, how to attend and media support, please contact Claire Shilling on Claire.shilling@informa.com
For more information on the programme, please contact Julie Rey on Julie.rey@informa.com
