Zantel gets new boss after $1 acquisition

Dar es Salaam. Zantel Tanzania now has a new boss as the firm strategizes on the way forward after being acquired by Millicom International.

Mr Benoit Janin becomes the new chief executive officer, taking over from Mr Pratap Ghose who had held the post for three years.

In June this year, Millicom International Cellular that trades as Tigo announced plans to acquire an 85 per cent stake in Zantel from the United Arab Emirates’ Etisalat Group.

Under the terms of the agreement, Millicom was to pay the total cash consideration of $1 (about Sh2,200 on the prevailing exchange rate) and assume total debt obligations of $74 million (about Sh162 billion).

A statement distributed by Zantel noted yesterday that Mr Janin, who boasts of 16 years of experience in the telecom industry, was previously the chief executive officer for Tigo in Chad where he led the firm’s growth to double digit growth and ostensibly put it as the leading mobile telecom operator in that country.

Tigo was also one of the first firms in Central Africa to introduce Fourth Generation (4G) services.

The statement quoted Mr Janin as telling the firm’s employers in Dar es Salaam that his focus would be to enhance the Zantel brand experience for customers through improved Second Generation (2G) and Third Generation (3G) networks.

He vowed to work with the team to ensure the brand was reinvigorated, with plans to launch Fourth Generation (4G) on the cards.

Meanwhile, Mr Janin took the opportunity during the meeting to recognize Beneath Kagoro, who is the Network Operations Centre (Noc) team leader and has been with the business for 16 years, as the longest servicing employee of Zantel.