Zain lands in Africa Aug.1, but further delays forecast for Saudi

Zain is powering ahead in its efforts to introduce the Zain brand simultaneously across 14 countries in Africa on August 1. Zain Group owns pan-African operator Celtel International, which has mobile operating licences in Burkina Faso, Chad, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Uganda, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Zambia.

MSI Cellular Investments Holdings rebranded to Celtel International in January 2004

The Zain brand was introduced last September and has had a staggered introduction across the operator’s 22-country footprint. The launch of the brand in Africa is of specific significance given the strong brand value Celtel has been able to achieve since being adopted by the group in January 2004 in order to reflect its African identity. Prior to the brand name change, Celtel International operated under the name MSI Cellular Investments Holdings.

“We combine local understanding with international expertise, without any legacy issues, to provide relevant and genuine pan-African communications services,” commented Tito Alai, previously chief marketing officer of Celtel International in 2004. “We are very focussed on embracing the multicultural diversity of Africa with its 3,000 cultures, languages and ethnic groups, both in urban and rural environments. Our more emotive brand promise is all about ‘making life better’.”

Alai has since risen to the position of Zain Group’s chief commercial officer, where he is again overseeing the change of brand names of the African operations from Celtel to Zain.

In some African markets, the rebranding process will be seen as an opportunity for the local operator to reconnect with its subscriber base and reinforce its value proposition. In Kenya, for example, Celtel lies a distant second in terms of mobile subscriber numbers as compared to market leader Safaricom. It is one of the few operations in the Zain portfolio that last year posted a full-year net loss, amounting to US$21.7 million, and which could do with a revitalised marketing programme.

Meanwhile reports in Saudi Arabia suggest Zain is looking to commercially launch its 2G/3G network on August 15, 15 months after announcing that its consortium had been selected as the winner of the kingdom’s third mobile licence in March 2007 at a cost of SAR22.91 billion (US$6.11 billion).

Zain had been looking to launch commercially by the first quarter of 2008, and the launch date has been consistently pushed back. Even now, sources in Saudi Arabia suggest the August 15 launch date may be missed, prompting Zain to have to postpone the commencement of services till after the holy month of Ramadan, which lasts for the month of September this year.