[kictanet] Financial Crisis biting Kenya too Ouch.....Zain cuts 141 staff in Kenya

[alice]

Zain cuts 141 staff in Kenya and looks at job cuts elsewhere in Africa

Zain has cut 141 staff in Kenya as part of a group restructuring 
designed to help it weather the effects of the global economic downturn. 
It has also cut staff in Nigeria earlier in the year.

Zain`s CEO for Africa Chris Gabriel announced the job cuts in Nairobi 
last Monday, but added it was too early to work out what the programme 
would cost or save Zain.
Studies would be carried out in other countries to determine whether job 
cuts were required, he explained.

However, Gabriel said the new business model would push the company into 
becoming a top 10 global mobile operator by 2011 with 110 million 
customers and over $6 billion in revenue. ``It is a very difficult 
decision to take, but it is all about creating efficiency by changing 
the way we operate,`` he told a press conference in Nairobi.

Zain`s new business model, which is expected to inject a new lease of 
life in the company’s operations, involves downsizing, centralizing and 
merging certain key functions and outsourcing non-core functions. The 
strategy has been dubbed the `modular business model` is based on a 
successful implementation in Zain Saudi Arabia last year.

The Kenya layoffs which targeted finance, sales, information technology, 
customer service and technical operations departments, come after the 
company`s ARPU went down to US$4 even before the full impact of the two 
new market entrants (Essar and Orange) have been felt.
(Source: IPP Media)