Zain gears up to launch Mobile Money Transfer Service in East Africa
Zain is planning to introduce mobile money transfer service which will be available to subscribers of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania enabling them to send and receive money over the borderless network. Zain Africa CEO, Gabriel said that the ZAP service is one of the innovations that the group is set to launch later this month as it seeks to reach its target to become one of the top 10 global telecom brands with a six billion U.S. dollars EBITDA rating by 2011 and a 110-million-strong subscriber base, up from the current 1.3 billion dollars and 50.7 million subscribers respectively.
“We are in the final stages of finalizing regulatory issues with the Central Bank of Kenya and Communications Commission of Kenya so as to launch the product which will take place later this month,” he added.
According to Zain, the Kuwait-based phone company with units in 22 African and Middle East nations, it will base its African business in Nairobi and plans further acquisitions on the continent. “Kenya is a very good market,” Gabriel said, adding that the country’s central location and regulatory environment had led to its selection. The company is also considering opportunities in countries such as Cote d’Ivoire, Rwanda and Mali and is willing to start new operations or buy existing ones
Zain is ready to spend 4.5 billion dollars on three or four acquisitions across Africa and the Middle East.
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