NAIROBI, July 10 – The Zain group has appointed Rene Meza as the new Managing Director for Celtel Kenya.
Meza, who joins Celtel from Millicom Company in Tanzania, is taking over from Gerhard May who resigned early this year.
Meza said the company is planning to spend Sh25 billion over the next two years for its expansion, as part of a strategy to stay ahead of the competition.
The funds will be used in restructuring distribution channels and network upgrading.
“In the past we didn’t have a good relationship and a good structure with our distributors countrywide,” said Meza.
“That is something we are changing and effective from May this year we will put in place a new structure for the distribution channel. We have improved the margin for the retailers and the results are coming out.”
In the last eight years, Celtel, which has changed ownership a number of times, has also seen changes in management, and Meza becomes the fourth Chief Executive Officer since the company’s inception.
The new CEO is promising to hold talks with regulators to ensure cheaper call costs for customers and better value.
Meanwhile, Meza announced that the company would in the first week of August start operating under the brand name; Zain Group.
The re-branding will affect all the 14 countries where Celtel operates.
“We have the re-branding, which is going to be a really good opportunity for us to come up with not only a good value proposition but a good network and good distribution channel that also presents mobile subscribers with a new lifestyle,” he said.
Meza, a Paraguayan, has been in the industry for 10 years and has had stints in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
