Transnational Corporation has moved to end the monthly leakage of about N1.7bn from the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited where it has 51 per cent equity stake.

Mr. Tom Iseghohi, group managing director, Transcorp, made this disclosure in Abuja at an interactive session with top management of the company who pledge their loyalty to transformation of Nitel.

Sources of the leakages identified by the GMD and Nitel staff included uncollected bills and credit control. Iseghohi said Nitel even in its present state is capable of making N1bn a month.

Mr. Abdulkarim Momoh, general manager in charge of audit at Nitel, said there was the need to probe the company’s investment in continental submarine cable popularly known as SAT-3.

Momoh pointed out that even though SAT-3 has the capacity to generate funds to run Nitel, only a paltry part of the capacity was being utilized thereby leaving a lot that could have been tapped from the facility.

All participants from Transcorp and the top management of Nitel, who participated at the interactive session, agreed that there were huge potentials in the First National Operator that needed to be tapped to reposition the company in the Nigerian telecom industry.

Speaking on the interim transformation of the company before the sale of some equity to a new core investor, Iseghohi said the company has received commitments for the $100m required for the project.

According to him, the interim plan would not see the company completely out of the woods but is meant to reposition it to be able to attract the right kind of core investor envisaged by both Transcorp and the Federal Government.

One of the key areas that need a quick fix he identified is the backbone and transmission infrastructure. Iseghohi said the plan is expected to begin to yield result within a period of three to four months.

He also said the first priority in the plan is to boost staff morale, an area which most workers of Nitel at the meeting pleaded with him to take urgent steps to address.

"Transcorp has exercised its right to restructure the company. This move will return Nitel to rightly place in the Nigerian telecom industry," he said.

On why Transcorp had not fully moved into the company earlier and implement the transformation plan, the GMD said the company needed to move in gradually and carry every stakeholder along since it was not the only shareholder.

Also speaking at the event, Mr. Gbenga Olaleye, general manager, Human Resources, Nitel, reassured the GMD and his team that Nitel has a crop of dedicated and skillful staff that are committed to transformation that Transcorp had chosen to steer Nitel in the next four months.

More so, Mr. Kevin Uche, head of Finance and Admin at the company, said Nitel remained a goldmine that must be tapped by Transcorp and the workers.

"I appreciate the coming of Transcorp to take hold of Nitel at this point in time. Many have been asking why this action had not been taken since but I think it is better to plan before taking any action. This is a welcome development," he added.

Celtel Lands in Ghana, as Westel becomes Zain

Celtel Ghana holdings, part of the Zain Group, a leading telecommunications company in Africa and the Middle East, has marked its official entry into Ghana with announcement of its plan to roll out commercial services before the end of the year.

The company has also announced that the company will henceforth be called and addressed as Zain Communications Ghana, in line with the global strategy of the Zain Group, a hugely successful mobile company in Africa through the Celtel brand.

Philip Sowah has been appointed as the country manager of the Ghana operation, the new owners of cellco Western Telesystems Ghana (Westel), said last week in Ghana.

The company expressed its determination to make a significant contribution to the growth of the telecommunications sector in Ghana.

According to the company, Zain Group is considering plans to roll out EDGE and/or 3G services in the country

On 14 December 2007 the government of Ghana finally completed the agreement to allow Celtel International take control of Westel, which had received a licence to operate GSM-based mobile services in November 2006. The acquisition of Westel is very important to Celtel as it gave the mobile operator a "gateway to West Africa".

Westel is the second national operator in Ghana and is licensed to provide fixed and mobile (GSM) telecommunications services.

The acquisition of Westel cements Zain’s leading position in Africa mobile market through the Celtel brand, which currently has its footprint in 14 countries. With the addition of Ghana, Celtel is now present in 15 African countries, bringing the Zain Group’s total operations to 22 networks (countries).

Celtel now has a footprint in neighbouring Ecowas or West African countries such as Burkina Faso, Niger, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, Africa’s largest telecom market.

Westel is expected to benefit from both Group and Celtel synergies in branding, human resources, and best practices, and from the innovative Celtel’s "One Network".

Speaking about the award of the licence then, Dr. Saad Al Barrak, chief executive officer, Zain expressed happiness on their entry to Ghana, one of the most important markets in Africa. "We look forward to offering Ghanaians the quality telecommunications services which we provide in all the countries in which we operate. Based on our pan-African experience we are confident that the increased competition in telecommunications will benefit the people of Ghana and support the already robust national economy of the country," he said.

Dr Al-Barrak said Celtel will be investing millions of dollars in a state-of-the art telecommunications network and associated services to offer its unparalleled experience as a pan-African operator, bringing telecoms services to over 24 million customers in 14 countries across the continent (15 with the addition of Ghana).

According to him Celtel prides itself on offering attractive career opportunities in its countries of operation, not only with the company directly, but also via its network of distributors, suppliers and advisors. Westel’s current management and staff, who have worked under challenging circumstances to date, will play an important role in taking the company forward.

The company also looks forward to promoting Ghana as a gateway to West Africa through its One Network, the world’s first borderless network. This offers Celtel’s customers the opportunity to move freely across geographical borders using the same services they would access in their home country, and to make calls without roaming surcharges and without having to pay to receive incoming calls and messages.