GSMA AND OPERATORS WORK TO IMPROVE MOBILE ACCESS AND AFFORDABILITY ACROSS AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST

18 March 2014, London: Further to a high-level meeting at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, senior leaders from seven major mobile operator groups, serving 506 million customers across Africa and the Middle East, plan to cooperate on network infrastructure sharing initiatives that recognise the profound impact of mobile broadband and Internet services on the citizens of both regions. The participating operators have made this commitment in order to provide Internet and mobile broadband access to unserved rural communities and drive down the cost of mobile services for all sections of the population.

“We are greatly encouraged by the shared vision of mobile operators and the common urgency to find solutions that will drive down the cost of mobile and Internet services and help connect the unconnected,” said Anne Bouverot, Director General, GSMA. “Unique mobile subscriber penetration is only 40 per cent in Africa and the Middle East, lower than the global average of 47 per cent, so we need to work together to expand the reach of mobile.”

The initial group of senior leaders from mobile operator groups who support this initiative includes:

·         Christian de Faria, CEO Africa, Bharti Airtel

·         Ahmad Julfar, Group CEO, Etisalat Group

·         Sifiso Dabengwa, CEO and President, MTN Group

·         Dr. Nasser Marafih, Group CEO, Ooredoo Group

·         Marc Rennard, Senior Executive Vice President, Africa, Middle East and Asia, Orange

·         Serpil Timuray, CEO, Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific Region, Vodafone Group

·         Scott Gegenheimer, CEO, Zain Group

They collectively manage 76 mobile network operations across 47 countries in Africa and the Middle East, where many of the unconnected population live in rural areas.

“This cooperation demonstrates that the industry is committed to innovating in order to serve the billions living in the rural areas,” said Manoj Kohli, Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises and Chair of the Public Policy Committee of the GSMA board, who also supports the initiative. “We call on governments to support and encourage the commercial infrastructure sharing arrangements that we aim to propose.”

The GSMA’s position is that telecom regulatory frameworks should encourage flexible commercial sharing arrangements and facilitate access to government-owned assets at preferential rates to help speed up the roll-out of new networks and support the business case to extend mobile networks into rural areas.

Emirates Appoints New Country Manager for Kenya

Nairobi, Kenya – 14 March 2014 – Emirates, a global connector of people and places, has appointed Anita Kongson as the new Country Manager for Kenya. Prior to her new posting, Ms. Kongson was Emirates’ Sales Manager for Switzerland.

With more than 20 years of experience in the aviation industry, Ms. Kongson began her airline career with another carrier in Zurich in 1986, and six years later joined Emirates as a reservations and ticketing agent.

Her career progression in Emirates saw her occupy a series of positions including reservation and ticketing supervisor; reservations and ticketing officer; reservations and sales support manager; and later sales manager Switzerland, a position she held between 1999 and January 2014.   

“I feel very privileged to be given the responsibility by the management to represent Emirates in Kenya. A country endowed not only with some of the most beautiful wildlife game reserves in the world and splendid natural scenery, but also a thriving economy with enormous potential for a leading global airline such as Emirates. Together with my team, I’m excited by the opportunity to further grow our business in this vibrant East African gateway,” she said.     

Congratulating Ms Kongson on her new appointment, Orhan Abbas, Emirates Senior Vice President for Latin America, Central and Southern Africa, said, “We want to thank Anita for her hard work in Switzerland and wish her all the best in her new position as Emirates’ Country Manager for Kenya. I am convinced that with her long-term experience, intercultural competence and her personal commitment, she will continue to build on the success and growth of the company.”

Ms Kongson holds Master’s degree in Global Marketing from the University of Liverpool.

Emirates operates double daily flights between Nairobi and Dubai and onward to more than 140 destinations in 80 countries across six continents.

EK 719 departs Dubai International Airport every day at 1045hrs and arrives at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) at 1445hrs. The return flight, EK720, leaves JKIA at 1640hrs and lands in Dubai at 1040hrs.  Second flight EK 721 departs Dubai International Airport every day at 1505hrs and arrives at JKIA at 1905hrs. The return flight, EK722, leaves JKIA at 2250hrs and lands in Dubai at 0450hrs