Dar es Salaam is to host one of the largest ever gatherings of business executives from the Middle East and Africa. 20 operations of the MTC group are meeting in the country this week to discuss the Group's new growth strategy – ACE (Acceleration, Consolidation, Expansion).
His Excellency the President of the United Republic of Tanzania Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete is expected to grace the occasion which is being held on the African continent for the first time since Celtel International was acquired by MTC in April 2005.
Speaking on the eve of the conference MTC Deputy Chairman Dr. Saad Al Barrak said MTC was supportive of President Kikwete's efforts to attract foreign investment with a particular focus on the Middle East. "Tanzania is important to the Group, therefore we are heeding His Excellency’s call by holding this meeting in Dar es Salam”.
Dr Al Barrak further added “We value our customers in Africa and having this event here reinforces the commitment we have to the continent, which is central to our strategy. Africa is important to us, having invested more than US$ 6 billion in less than two years on the continent since we acquired Celtel International.”
MTC's new growth strategy – ACE will be the group's driving force to position it to take on the challenges of globalization. "This is the coming together of the best that the Middle East and Africa has offer in terms of empowering all our stakeholders in the countries in which we operate." said Dr Al Barrak.
Through implementation of the ACE strategy, MTC’s new goals by the year 2011 are to become a company with a market capitalization of US$ 30 billion, exceeding 70 million customers and to attain a US$ 6 Billion EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation).
As a responsible corporate citizen, MTC is committed to partnering with local communities to support sustainable development initiatives. The fact that communication is not a luxury but a catalyst for the development of communities, it is important that MTC ’s economic, social and cultural projects have a positive impact on the people of all the countries in which it operates.
About MTC
MTC is the pioneer of mobile telecommunications in the Middle East and now a major player on the African continent. We began life in 1983 in Kuwait as the region’s first mobile operator, and since the initiation of our “3x3x3” expansion strategy in 2003, we have expanded rapidly.
As a leading mobile operator in 6 Middle Eastern and 14 sub-Saharan African countries with 12,000 employees, we provide a comprehensive range of mobile voice and data services to over 24.9 million individual and business customers (as of September 30, 2006).
The company operates in Kuwait and Bahrain as mtc-vodafone, in Jordan as Fastlink, in Iraq as mtc atheer, in Lebanon as mtc touch, in Sudan as Mobitel and in 14 sub-Saharan countries in Africa as Celtel: Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
Listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (Code: Tele), MTC’s market capitalization exceeded US$14.4 billion as of December 31, 2006. For more visit: www.mtctelecom.com
About Celtel International
Celtel, a fully owned subsidiary of MTC, is the most successful pan-African mobile network, offering telecommunications services to more people in Africa than any other network. The company is one of the best-known branded businesses in Africa with mobile licenses covering more than 400 million people, close to half of Africa’s population. Under the brand promise of ‘Making Life Better’, the company is committed to achieving sustainable development of telecommunications in Africa. Celtel has more than 16 million customers and operates mobile cellular operations in 14 countries. For more information please visit www.celtel.com
