(L-R) Chima Ibeneche, MD, Nigeria LNG Limited, discussing with Andrew Jonathan Nok, award winner at the public presentation of the winner of the Nigeria prize for science 2009 organised by LNG in Lagos.

ATMOSPHERE of uncertainty pervades Zain’s operations across Africa, a development that will have negative impact on the company as it strives to keep up with stiff competition from more vibrant operators in the continent, BusinessWorld Intelligence can now reveal.
An indication to this effect was last week’s resignation of Dr Saad Al Barrak, managing director and deputy chairman of the firm. In a short statement to the Kuwaiti Stock Exchange, Zain said that Al Barrak has “handed in his resignation to the chairman of the board and the chairman will present the resignation to board members to look into the matter.” His resignation was said to have been triggered by boardroom crisis.
Al Barrak, who has led the firm since 2002, was responsible for an aggressive period of expansion, but progress has stalled recently following attempts to sell off a large chunk of the company. “His resignation will have a temporary negative impact on the company because he turned Zain into a global player and he has clearly left his mark on the company,” Naser Al Nafisi, general manager of Kuwait’s Al Joman Center for Economic Consultancy, said.
BusinessWorld Intelligence can also reveal that majority of Zain’s staff in Nigeria go to work with apprehension as the company plans another major outsourcing of most of its operational units. Under this new strategy, about 60 per cent of the employees would be laid off any moment from now. The telecommunications company plans to retain only 500 of its total workforce in Nigeria. Its customer service which houses majority of the staff will be fully outsourced soon, our sources confirmed.
Zain Nigeria recently outsourced all the information technology aspect of its operations to Ericsson, a development that led to a huge loss of job in the company. Zain started its Nigerian operations in 2001 but has since lost its position to Globacom due to frequent management crises and lack of access to the required finance for its operations. Virtually all the Nigerian promoters of the company have sold their shareholding due to their lack of faith in the company.
Al Barrak’s stewardship at Zain was typified by its $3.4 billion acquisition of Netherlands-based Celtel in 2005, which saw it enter numerous markets in Africa. However, Zain announced last year that it was putting many of its African networks up for sale after they proved to be less profitable than expected, jeopardising Zain’s much-publicised goal to become a top 10 global operator by 2011.
Plans for the African sale were put on hold last September when Zain agreed to sell 46 per cent stake to a consortium led by the Kharafi Group, one of its main shareholders.