Prince Osuagwu
1 January 2009
Lagos — Zain Group, the parent body to one of Nigeria's leading telecom operators, Zain Nigeria, has been announced as the winners of Best Overall Operator in Africa and Middle East at the annual CommsMEA Awards 2008.
Organisers of the awards, foremost business-to-business telecoms publication in Africa, said that Zain merited the award for leading the remarkable trend of mobile communications within the Middle East and Africa.
It said that the award also recognizes Zain's rapid transition from a single mobile operator in Kuwait with 600,000 customers in 2002 to a major telecom conglomerate in the Middle East and Africa serving over 56 million customers in 22 countries.
The award ceremony which held in Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai, also selected Zain's Bahrain operation as the Middle East Operator of the Year.
Part of the citation for the "Overall Operator of the Year,", reads "Zain, whether in terms of its new vibrant brand, strategy and vision, financials, products and services, people, management, communication with and social support of the communities it serves, has earned its right to be among the top mobile operators on the globe".
Reacting to the awards, Zain Group CEO, Dr Saad Al-Barrak said, "this acknowledgment rewards and recognizes the dedicated efforts of our entire 16,000 workforce who have made Zain the successful company it is today. It is also an affirmation of the 3x3x3 expansion strategy we commenced back in 2003 aiming to be a top-ten global telecoms company by 2011".
Part of the achievements that contributed in its winning the award included, rebranding 14 operations in Africa from Celtel to Zain in August 2008 and bringing the new Zain brand across the Middle East and Africa.
Others included the successful acquisition of Iraqna in Iraq with over 3 million customers for $1.2 billion and the acquisition of Westel in Ghana for $120 million. The company also commenced operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on August 26 and in three months attained over one million customers.
This is even as it raised about $4.5 billion from a capital increase despite the world economic turmoil.
Zain also introduced One Network to the Middle East in April and later connecting two continents in August encompassing 16 countries, 50 million customers and population coverage of 500 million people.
The award recognised that the service is contributing to the economic and social well-being of many communities in the world.
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