Zain focused on ‘4SIGHT’ strategy at Mobile World Congress

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Zain Group, a leading mobile innovator in seven markets across the Middle East and Africa, announces its successful participation at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, from 28 February to 3 March, after a four-year absence.

Zain said it utilized its presence at the conference and exhibition under its 4Sight strategic theme of “Creating a Sustainable Digital Future” to showcase activities that are turning it into a digital lifestyle service provider; sign a series of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) and introduce several cutting-edge solutions.

Zain said it benefitted on multiple levels from MWC Barcelona, assembling senior management from across its operating companies led by Zain Vice-Chairman and Group CEO Bader Al-Kharafi to discuss issues of strategic importance as well as exchange considerations on the telco’s future roadmap, that also witnessed Zain operations entering multiple deals with world-leading technology and solution providers.

Agreements and MoUs with leading technology innovators included but were not limited to Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, Cisco, Microsoft, AWS, Dell and VMware support Zain in advancing its technological lead and customer offerings across all its markets.

A total of 10 demonstration areas were on display on the Zain booth, welcoming hundreds of visitors and highlighting activities in areas that included its 4Sight corporate and sustainability strategy; ZainTech enterprise and government (B2B) solutions provider that also included showcasing its Smart Cities, Cloud, Data and Zain Drone services; as well as Zain Global Connect wholesale and connectivity activities.

In addition, Zain Ventures, venture capital and investment arm, highlighted its recent investments in ZoodPay, ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ as well as in PIPE and Swvl, and other investments in leading Venture Capital funds such as MEVP, BECO Capital and Valor Capital.

Moreover, Zain Fintech showcased its Tamam micro-lending platform in Saudi Arabia and Zain Cash in Iraq and Jordan, and M-Gurush in South Sudan, platforms that collectively attracted 1.5 million customers recording over 25 million transactions with a value of USD 2.3 billion in 2021.

Also, Zain announced the establishment of Dizlee, the company’s recently rebranded API engagement program; and showcased its Zain Esports achievements and future activities, which also incorporated an entertaining gaming zone for visitors that attracted many gaming enthusiasts.

Zain Bahrain CEO Duncan Howard commented, “It was a pleasure to participate in the Mobile World Congress to share insights and ideas with our counterparts from across the region and to see cutting edge technologies. Over the last few years, the telecom industry globally has been extremely resilient, and this year’s Congress was especially important in terms of planning for the future.”

During MWC, Zain Group, and other regional operators announced the opening of the first regional community lab in collaboration with Telecom Infra Project (TIP) and Intel, following the recent signing of the Open RAN MoU to enhance network experiences for end-users.

Keeping with the theme of regional cooperation, Zain Group and Omantel also signed an MoU with other operators to accelerate collaboration to protect the environment, tackle climate change challenges, as well as reduce the carbon footprint through their operations.