| Kippreport.com

Dr. Abdel Malik Al Jaber appointed CEO of Zain Levant Region

July 18, 2009 12:00 by Aarti Nagraj

 Amman, Zain Group, the leading mobile telecommunications operator in the Middle East and Africa, announces the appointment of Dr. Abdel Malik Al Jaber as CEO of the Zain Levant Region made up of Zain Jordan and Paltel-soon be rebranded to Zain Palestine with immediate effect. The appointment follows the mutual share swap agreement between Zain Group and Paltel that was signed on May 18, 2009; and the approval of shareholders at Paltel’s Extraordinary General Assembly on June 11, 2009.  In addition to his new role as CEO of Zain Levant, Dr. Al Jaber has been appointed Acting General Manager of Zain Jordan, effective July 15, 2009.

 

Having led Zain Jordan for the last 14 months, the outgoing CEO of Zain Jordan, Dr. Ahmed Al Shatti, will now take on a new senior role within the Zain Group. Dr. Saad Al Barrak CEO of Zain Group praised Dr. Al Shatti’s efforts and the vital role he played at Zain in Jordan. He added that during his tenure, the company maintained its leadership in the Jordanian market and received various awards, including Al Hussein Decoration for Distinguished Contribution, First Order, in recognition for the company’s role in serving the local community and its distinguished CSR policy. The Award was the first of its kind to be received by a telecommunications company in Jordan.

 

Dr Al Barrak noted that the strategic changes of forming a Zain Levant Regional focus and its new management structure are in line with its expansion strategy and its ambition to be a global top ten mobile telecom operator by 2011. This regional team will also be responsible for future acquisitions in the Levant. Zain Group currently has a commercial presence in 24 countries serving 65 million active customers. Once finalized, the merger will see an additional 1.5 million mobile customers from Palestine join the Zain family. 

 

Welcoming the new CEO of Zain Levant to the role, Dr Al Barrak said, “Dr Abdel Malik Al Jaber is a distinguished leader who has taken the Paltel Group to new heights making the operation a world-class outfit in all facets of its business. We are confident that he will build on this achievement in further building the new Jordanian and Palestinian entity as the leading telecommunications group in the neighboring countries”.   

 

For his part, Dr. Al Jaber said he was very happy to be assuming the role of CEO Zain Levant and to be working closely with new colleagues at Zain in Jordan. “We are now part of one of the most advanced telecommunications markets in the region,” he said. “I shall undoubtedly draw inspiration from the rich field of expertise within the country and look forward to working closely with an extremely talented team that has an exceptional track record. They have earned a reputation for being innovative, one that has put Jordan on the global telecom map.”

 

Dr Al Jaber added that he plans to build on the successes achieved by Zain in Jordan. “The company will maintain its current momentum. It will continue to place a premium on service and building solid ties within the local community,” he said. 

 

Al Jaber added that “Jordan enjoys a truly outstanding position in the telecom sector in the Arab world and the region inspired by a long term vision of His Majesty King Abdullah with a proactive government that is working hard to ensure that this sector remains a leader for the Kingdom’s economic development. Jordan today enjoys a competitive environment that is unique and has innate potential for growth in the areas of Internet, Content and added value services.” Al Jaber added that “he looks forward to working in partnership with the Telecom Regulation Commission and the Ministry of Telecommunications and ICT and all other relevant parties to this sector to help achieve the vision of His Majesty in making Jordan a true Oasis of Technology and Innovation in the region.”

 

One the first challenges that Dr Al Jaber will face in his new role is the rebranding of the Paltel Group’s many operations including its Jawwal mobile operation to Zain. This will take place later this year at which time Palestine will join and become the 19th country to be part of the world’s first borderless mobile platform, “One Network” providing preferential communications and roaming benefits across geographical borders.

 

 

Note to Editors:

About Mr Abdel Malik Al Jaber:

Dr. Al Jaber comes to Zain with a wealth of experience and a long record of achievements both locally and regionally. Prior to his new post at Zain he was appointed Vice Chairman of the Board and CEO of the Paltel Group in 2003 during which he was able to restructure the company towards increased profits and sustained innovation and social responsibility. He increased the company’s profits from USD$ 15 million in 2003 to USD$ 100 million in 2005. The Company met its growth targets ever since and its stock dominated the Palestine Stock Exchange.

Additionally, the Paltel Group became the first company in the country to pioneer the practice of Corporate Social Responsibility introducing Sustainability Practice and Reporting as per the GRI Standards and later on creating the first Corporate Foundation in the country.

In Private sector Palestine Dr. Al Jaber is the Chairman of the Golden Wheat Mills Company, Chairman of the Board of Wasel Logistics, and a Founder of Al Rafah Bank, the first Mirco-Finance Bank in the region.

In 2005, Dr. Al Jaber helped found VTEL Holdings, a UAE based company with USD$ 1 billion in capital comprised of high net worth investors from Palestine and the Arab World. VTEL’s business objectives were to obtain licenses to operate ICT projects worldwide; in CSR countries, Africa, Central and Latin America including the Caribbean. Today the company has operations in Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Iraq, Kurdistan, Jordan and Burundi in Africa. He is also a member of the Board of Cairo Amman Bank in Jordan, and is a member of its Audit Committee as well, he is a Member of the Executive Committee at Ayla Jordan, and a Member of the Executive Committee for Astra Group Jordan, which is considered as one of the most important investment holdings in the Kingdom with investments in: Tourism, Insurance, Real Estate, and Agriculture.

 He is a current member of the Arab Business Council and the World Economic Forum, The Arab Technology Forum, Member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), Founder of the Young Arab Leaders Chapter in Palestine, and today serves as a regional Board Member of the YAL Organization in Dubai with Chapters in Lebanon, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE.

Dr. Al Jaber is a graduate of Jordan University of Science and Technology, McGill University - Canada, North Western University- Kellogg School of Business Administration, USA, and International School of Management, Paris.  He holds a DBA, MBA as well as an BEng and MSC in Engineering. He is a recipient of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Al Maktoum “Best Arab Manager Award for Excellence in Management” for the year 2001, as the leading business executive in Palestine.

About Zain

Zain is a leading telecommunications operator across the Middle East and Africa providing mobile voice and data services to 64.7 million active customers as at 31 March 2009. In terms of country footprint, Zain is the 3rd largest mobile operator in the world with a commercial presence in 24 countries.

 

Zain operates in Bahrain, Burkina Faso, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Palestine (currently operating as Paltel Group), Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. In Lebanon, the company manages ‘mtc-touch’ on behalf of the government. In Morocco, Zain owns 31% of Wana Telecom through a joint venture.

 

Zain offers innovative services in its markets such as ‘One Network’, the world’s first borderless mobile telecommunications network enabling customers when abroad to receive calls and sms without charge and to make voice and data calls at local rates throughout 19 countries in Africa and the Middle East. This service allows a customer to top up airtime in their home country or from more than 1,000,000 outlets within Zain’s ‘One Network’ footprint.

The Zain brand is wholly owned by Mobile Telecommunications Company KSC, which is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (Stock ticker: ZAIN). Zain is listed in the Financial Times’ Global 500 Index which ranks the world’s largest companies based on market capitalization (http://www.ft.com/reports/ft5002008). Zain aims to become one of the top ten mobile operators in the world by end of the year 2011. For more, please visit www.zain.com  or email info@zain.com

 

About Zain in Jordan:

Zain in Jordan (formerly known as Fastlink), founded in 1995, was the first operator to introduce mobile phone services into Jordan. In just a few years, the company earned its reputation as the most progressive telecom operator in the region in terms of competitiveness and readiness to adopt new technologies and deploy cutting-edge services. Since its inception, Zain in Jordan has tallied subscriber growth at an exponential rate, with the number of users currently exceeding 2 million subscribers. Through more than 1,700 cell sites, Zain covers the entire populated area of the Kingdom. In January 2003, the Zain Group (formerly known as the Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC)) acquired Zain in Jordan in what was considered the largest single acquisition in the Middle East area, and the largest private sector investment in Jordan.

 

For more information www.zain.com or contact info@zain.com

 

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