Zain cuts 141 staff in Kenya and looks at job cuts elsewhere in Africa

Zain has cut 141 staff in Kenya as part of a group restructuring designed to help it weather the effects of the global economic downturn. It has also cut staff in Nigeria earlier in the year.

Zain`s CEO for Africa Chris Gabriel announced the job cuts in Nairobi last Monday, but added it was too early to work out what the programme would cost or save Zain. Studies would be carried out in other countries to determine whether job cuts were required, he explained.

However, Gabriel said the new business model would push the company into becoming a top 10 global mobile operator by 2011 with 110 million customers and over $6 billion in revenue. ``It is a very difficult decision to take, but it is all about creating efficiency by changing the way we operate,`` he told a press conference in Nairobi.

Zain`s new business model, which is expected to inject a new lease of life in the company’s operations, involves downsizing, centralizing and merging certain key functions and outsourcing non-core functions. The strategy has been dubbed the `modular business model` is based on a successful implementation in Zain Saudi Arabia last year.

The Kenya layoffs which targeted finance, sales, information technology, customer service and technical operations departments, come after the company`s ARPU went down to US$4 even before the full impact of the two new market entrants (Essar and Orange) have been felt.
(Source: IPP Media)

 

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