ZAIN CHANGES NAME TO AIRTEL

Bharti Airtel, the giant global telecommunications company which has operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa at the weekend unveiled Airtel brand in Nigeria and around the continent, finally laying to rest the Zain brand.

The new and more vibrant brand was unveiled in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, His Excellency, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, along with Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Group CEO, Bharti Enterprises.

With the brand reveal activity, the identity of the company has changed from Zain Nigeria to Airtel Nigeria. Airtel is now the master brand for all the telecom group’s 19 operations. Airtel currently serve over 200 million customers in Asia and Africa.

In his remarks, President Goodluck Jonathan commended Airtel for choosing Nigeria as the launch location for the entire Africa continent. He also congratulated Airtel for the successful launch of the new brand and for its expressed commitment to make telecoms services affordable for the consumer. He urged the company to assist in creating additional jobs for Nigerians.

Jonathan who was represented by the Minister of Information and Communications, Professor Dora Akunyili also expressed joy at the plan of the company to expand its operations to more rural areas and communities. He equally advice the company to increase its investment in Nigeria as this will help to reduce the level of unemployment in the country.

Speaking at the event, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti, said: “Bharti began its African journey by promising to deliver world-class and affordable mobile services to customers and delighting them with innovative products. I believe we are taking a major step towards delivering on this by introducing the heart of our business – the Airtel brand – across our operations in Africa. Our African customers will now be able to enjoy the same best-in-class brand experience as our customers across India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

He further added: “We remain committed to taking our network deeper into Africa, ensuring our services touch the common man and bridge the digital divide in the continent. I am confident that over the coming years Airtel will win the hearts of customers across Africa and emerge as one of most admired brands of the continent.”

Credit:-Bunmi Awolusi