Mobile telecommunications operator, Zain Nigeria has announced key appointments in the company’s commercial, operations and human resources directorate as part of its effort to strategically diversify and strengthen its leadership for a crucial challenge for the top spot of the telecom market.
The newly appointed officials are Khaled Khorshid, Shamel Mohamed Hanafi and Jubril Saba. Khorshid will take charge of the Operations Group, formerly headed by Lars Stork, while Hanafi and Saba will have responsibility for the Commercial Group and Human Resources Directorate respectively. Hanafi and Saba take over the responsibilities previously handled by Norman Moyo, a Zimbabwean and Roy Masamba, another Zimbabwean, both of whom have taken up new appointments in Zain Group Headquarters in Bahrain.
According to Bayo Ligali the chief executive officer of Zain Nigeria, the appointments are strategic to the implementation of Zain Group’s Drive 2011 initiative, which is aimed at realizing the objective of becoming one of the top 10 global telecommunications companies.
“I have no doubt that the newly appointed executives have the right kind of experience and competence to lead the company in the great task of building a world class network which is capable of delivering the highest possible quality of service to our customers”.
Speaking specifically of Jubril Saba, Ligali declared that “this is another demonstration of Zain’s commitment to promoting from within young Nigerians with the right leadership capabilities and a demonstrable track record of excellent performance identified through the company’s Talent Management and Leadership Development processes”.
Khorshid, the new chief operating officer brings to Zain Nigeria 18 years experience in Information Technology and Telecom fields. He started his career in North America with leading consulting firms EDS and Accenture in systems integration and management consulting. For 10 years, he participated and managed large consulting projects for Fortune 100 companies including giant telecom operators like AT&T, Cable & Wireless, and SBC Communications.
Khorshid joined Zain Nigeria in January 2009 as the head of operation with direct responsibilities for Network, Information Technology, Customer Service, and Project Management Office. He is also an additional responsibility of leading the transformation of the company’s culture, aligning it with Zain brand values: Heart, Radiance and Belonging.
Shamel Mohammed Hanafi, the chief commercial officer is an experienced telecom executive with specialization in commercial and operational management. He has over 15 years of professional experience split between customer-centric hospitality industry and the fast paced, competitive telecommunications industry.
Prior to joining Zain Nigeria, Hanafi was the chief commercial officer of Zain Iraq, where he was responsible for stringent management of distributors to attain quarterly and year-end sales targets, restructuring and integration of distribution channels of operations, re-engineering of an integrated commission scheme and re-branding of IraQna to Zain Iraq.
He was also responsible for managing and overseeing all aspects of sales, marketing, communications, customer services, business development, quality control and logistics within his professional domain.
A consistent strong performer, Hanafi was a member of the Zain team that overcame several challenges in establishing and operating the GSM licence in Iraq, a war ridden environment. As one of the first expatriates in Iraq, he ensured that the Zain group objective of creating a team that would succeed and move the business forward in the unstable environment was achieved.
Aside Zain Iraq, Hanafi has played key roles in other leading telecommunications organisations. Between October 2004 and November, 2007, he was the Vice President/Chief Commercial Officer of Orascom Telecom in Iraq. In this role in Orascom, he was a key driver behind the strategic commercial roadmap of the business just as he was primarily responsible for delivering all commercial Key Performance Indicators within the operation.
He also held the position of Director of Sales, Orascom Telecoms from October 2003 to October, 2004. Prior to which he was Commercial Development and Support Director in Orascom, Tunisia (OTT) - Tunisiana. In this role he had the responsibility of establishing all commercial reporting, analysis, training, logistics, merchandising, remuneration and commissioning system for both distributors and OTT’s direct sales force. He was also responsible for establishing the structure to manage the entire sales logistics, in addition to developing corporate sales with a direct sales team.
Hanafi’s exploits in the telecommunications domain began in March, 2000 when the Egyptian Company for Mobile Service (ECMS) –MobiNil (Orange/France Telecom & Orascom Venture) appointed him as Regional Sales Manager. He had the responsibility of defining the branding policy, Customers Centres & merchandizing material needs layout, introducing budget-Tracking tool of the National Sales Department, driving targets for 90 customer centres throughout Egypt with total head count of 600 persons in the National Sales Department and creating strategic and business plan for Mobinil Customer Centres.
Abdullahi Jubril Saba, the new human resources director, brings to the job varied experience in Customer Care Management and Training & Development.
A graduate of Electrical Engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Saba joined Zain Nigeria as Customer Care Representative and later rose to the position of Training & Development Manager before he was transferred to the Human Resource Group where he was given the responsibility of leading the Learning & Talent Management Division. He was later assigned to the Technical Group as Human Resource Manager, a position he held until his recent appointment.
He is currently pursuing an MBA in Business Administration at the Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, United Kingdom. He is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and a certified Global Professional (Human Resources).
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