Wataniya International’s loss is Zain’s gain

Ahmad Haleem, formerly the CEO of Wataniya International, has assumed the role of senior advisor to Zain Group CEO, Saad Al Barrak, Comm. can reveal.

Based in Bahrain, Haleem will form part of the senior management team charting the strategic direction of the pan-regional operator, focussing on group-level developments.

The appointment brings Haleem back into the fray as a senior management figure of a regional service provider after a two-year hiatus. In April 2007 Haleem said he felt the time was right for him to explore other opportunities following the agreement by 51 per cent of Wataniya Telecom shareholders to sell a controlling stake in the operator to Qtel. Wataniya International is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Wataniya Telecom.

Qtel’s US$3.4 billion offer for the 51 per cent stake in Wataniya Telecom valued the entire company at close to US$7 billion, and Haleem believes together with his management team at Wataniya International, he was instrumental in helping create much of this value. The international arm of Wataniya was only established as a holding company in July 2004, following Wataniya’s expansion into markets including Tunisia, Algeria and Iraq.

In the time following his departure from Wataniya International, Haleem harboured plans to establish an investment company of sorts, which would look to create value in opportunities occurring in the region. He deferred the creation of this venture until the “economic market turmoil calms down,” and subsequently became involved in a company called Meeza Technical Solutions, which caters to mobile operators in the in-building solutions arena.

Haleem earned a Bachelors Degree of Science in Accounting from the University of Illinois, Chicago and obtained his CPA qualification in 1989. After 14 years of service with Motorola, he was appointed as CFO of Wataniya Telecom in Kuwait in 2001.  In March 2004, he was appointed CEO of Wataniya International.