Cell One engages local stakeholders

CELL One’s new owners, Telecel Globe, yesterday addressed key stakeholders in the telecommunications industry, as well as business and government leaders, on matters of co-operation.

The Egypt-based Telecel Globe announced its 100 per cent acquisition of Cell One – Namibia’s second mobile operator – two weeks ago.Speaking at the event, Joel Kaapanda, Minister of Information and Communication Technology, praised Cell One for the ‘smooth transition of ownership and normal continuation of operations at Cell One, and maintaining the current staff establishment’.He said this was a signal of Telecel Globe’s commitment to growing the business instead of downsizing in the face of uncertainty about the local effects of the global financial crisis. ‘We value the commitment of the new shareholders in supporting Government in its efforts to economically empower the previously disadvantaged through BEE partnerships,’ Kaapanda said.The Minister listed the benefits of Cell One as a player in the telecommunications industry as the direct and indirect creation of jobs, the benefits derived by cellphone users from the competition between the two operators, the direct interaction with local communities and traditional authorities through the location of network towers on communal land, and the meaningful implementation of the concept of private-public partnerships.Kaapanda further described Telecel Globe’s acquisition as an investment that ‘confirms that the Namibian government’s efforts to reinforce the country as an investor-friendly destination are paying off,’ adding that the existing ties between Namibia and Egypt at the political and economic level would lay the foundations for expanded bilateral co-operation.Egyptian Ambassador Hadi El Tonsi defined Telecel Globe’s acquisition of Cell One as a milestone in relations between Namibia and Egypt relations, adding that Cell One had the potential to create linkages between other stakeholders, with positive trickle-down effects for all sectors of the economy.Kai Uebach, CEO of Telecel Globe, reaffirmed Cell One’s commitment to contributing towards Namibia’s development in achieving Vision 2030, and gave recognition to the outgoing shareholders for their role in bringing Cell One to its current market position.He maintained that Cell One would continue to rely on and develop local expertise in retaining it as a Namibian company, and laid out Telecel Globe’s objectives to further develop the company by ‘investing hundreds of millions of Namibian dollars into Cell One, expanding network coverage to reach 90 to 95 per cent of the population in one and a half years, and doubling retail presence over the next year’.Uebach also outlined Cell One’s corporate social responsibility, which will be carried out through Telecel Globe’s Social Responsibility Foundation.Cell One has identified the education of orphans and vulnerable children as one of its major social responsibility priorities.Some of the key figures in attendance at the meeting included Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare Marlene Mungunda, Deputy Minister of Information and Communication Technology Raphael Ndinyando, Deputy Minister of Education Dr Becky Ndjoze-Ojo, and the Chairman of the Namibian Communications Commission, David Imbili. – nangula@namibian.com.na