Zain, the Kuwaiti telecoms giant, has changed the senior management team of its Iraqi operation bringing the subsidiary under the closer control of Zain headquarters in Bahrain.
Nabeel Bin Salamah, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Zain Group, has…
Zain, the Kuwaiti telecoms giant, has changed the senior management team of its Iraqi operation bringing the subsidiary under the closer control of Zain headquarters in Bahrain.
Nabeel Bin Salamah, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Zain Group, has demoted Ali al-Dahwi from CEO of Zain Iraq to a special adviser on Iraq for Zain Group.
Salamah has taken direct control of Zain Iraq. He has appointed Barrak al-Sabeeh as his representative in Iraq.
Meanwhile, Salamah has promoted Wael Ghanayem, chief financial officer at Zain Iraq, to acting CEO. Zain Group is currently looking for a long-term replacement for Al-Dahwi.
In a statement, Zain Group said, “The move was made on the basis of the company’s long-term development in Iraq and will not necessarily mean a change in the strategic direction set out by Al-Dahwi whose energy and hard work have established Zain as a highly visible brand in the Iraqi market.”
Zain Iraq had 10.3 million mobile phone customers at the end of December 2009, compared with 9.7 million at the end of 2008.
The operator, which had enjoyed explosive growth since it started operating in early 2004, increased its number of customers by just 6.4% in 2009. In 2008, its number of customers increased by 35%.
Zain Group owns 71.7% of Zain Iraq. It declines to name who owns the remaining 28.3% of the operator.
The statement did not say whether Zain Iraq’s minority shareholders supported the removal of Al-Dahwi as CEO.
Under Salamah’s predecessor, Saad Al-Barrak, Zain had an excellent track record of maintaining successful working relationships with minority shareholders. By contrast, two of Zain’s regional rivals – Kuwait’s Wataniya and Egypt’s Orascom Telecom – have suffered from a series of disputes with other shareholders.