Zain Kuwait has become the second regional telco to appoint a female CEO, just months after a precedent set by Batelco.
Zain (KW:ZAIN) has appointed a new CEO at its Kuwaiti subsidiary, where Eaman Al Roudhan will replace Omar al-Omar in the top role on 1 December, according to a stock exchange filing. Al-Omar will go on to advise group CEO Scott Gegenheimer on digital growth opportunities, the company added.
Al Roudhan, currently the subsidiary’s chief regulatory officer, has spent 18 of her 20 years at Zain holding executive management and leadership roles in Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. She is credited with having “orchestrated numerous strategic alliances with international and regional operators.”
She commented: “As the flagship operation of the Group, Zain Kuwait is deeply entrenched in the telecom, economic and social landscape in the country.”
According to Gegenheimer, Al Roudhan has a “distinguished record and strong background in regulatory affairs, mobile technology, strategy and management.”
He also noted that she is the first woman to be appointed to a CEO role at the group. In August, Muna al Hashemi was named CEO of Batelco’s home market, becoming the region’s first female CEO.
The new appointee is a member of the GSMA’s Arab World regional interest group and Chief Regulatory Officer Group (CROG), and holds a BSc in electronics and telecoms engineering from Kuwait University. She has also completed courses at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and Harvard Business School.
Zain Kuwait competes with Ooredoo’s local subsidiary, and Saudi Telecom-owned Viva.
Operating in eight countries (Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and South Sudan), Zain manages government-owned Lebanese cellco Touch and owns 15.5% of Morocco’s INWI. As of 30 September, the company said it had 46.5 million customers.
Pending the results of an auction due to close on 11 November, Zain is expected to extend its Lebanese contract. Egypt’s OTMT manages the second government-owned mobile operator, Alfa.
