Zain unveiled in Africa

Discuss

Top Related Companies

ETISALAT 10.05 0.05  0.50%

STC 38.4 0.30  0.79%

ZAIN 1240 20.00  1.64%

EEC 52.25 -0.50  -0.95%

QTEL 171.5 1.50  0.88%

The recent launch of Zain in Africa was celebrated with a series of spectacular events, attended by over 100,000 people. The events took place simultaneously across the company’s 14 African markets and were linked by the most ambitious live satellite link-up the continent has ever seen. Millions also watched the events on television.

The rebranding concerts were attended by some of Africa’s senior diplomats, VIPs, artistes and celebrities in all 14 countries who witnessed live speeches and festivities through an hour-long live satellite feed that linked all countries to each other. The main event in Zain Africa’s regional headquarter Nairobi, was attended by Zain Group CEO, Dr Saad Al Barrak, and the President of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki together with the Kenyan Minister for Information and Communications, Samuel Poghisio, and 1,000 dignitaries and guests.

During his speech, President Kibaki hailed Zain for its innovativeness by coming up with the ‘One Network’ service, that substantially reduces the costs of telephony. President Kibaki said, "Indeed, we are already observing that growth in mobile telephony has provided a reliable form of communication to rural communities, thereby enabling our farmers to market their produce."

The President said: “This has not only enabled businesses to operate at lower costs but has also made communication cheaper for families that live across borders." With regard to the growth of the ICT sector, he made the historic announcement that the Government had removed all import duties and tariffs on Information, Communications and Technology goods in Kenya, at the same time outlining plans on the installation of fibre optic cables linking Kenya to the rest of the world.