Chadi Alid is the general manager of Dizlee, a Zain Group company that is mainly responsible for digital services and the API marketplace. Zain Group is one of the leading telecom groups in the Middle East and Africa, present in seven countries, with around 54 million customers and over 7000 employees. As a key telco in the region, Zain Group has partnered with Digital Virgo to grow hand by hand in a region with a flourishing digital ecosystem.
The role of Telcos in the digital ecosystem of MENA
“I think that telecom operators are playing a very important, if not crucial, role in the overall digital ecosystem of the region. If you look at the overall value chain, operators have many roles to play. We obviously offer the connectivity and the infrastructure… the GSM mobile services to our customers. But we are also providing ICT services, B2B services, digital services. Our goal is to be very comprehensive in terms of the ICT services that we are offering to our customers, whether they are B2C or B2B”.
The fulfilment of end-users’ expectations
“One of our strategic pillars at Zain is the customer experience, and we put a lot of attention to the customer needs. As an operator, we are obviously providing the regular core business services, which are mobile, data and voice services. But we are also expanding beyond the core businesses. In some countries where we are operating, for example, the credit card penetration is not as high as in other countries, so we are trying to offer alternative services like direct carrier billing so that customers can fulfil their needs and purchase and acquire services and applications”.
The partnership between Zain Group & Digital Virgo
“Partnerships are a key direction for us. It is a strategic direction for us to get into a partnership, to find the right partners that can help us and that fit us, whether it’s a cultural fit or a strategic fit, so that we can grow together. When we partner with someone like Digital Virgo, we are, of course, looking for the expertise that we don’t necessarily have. We are looking for the experience, the know-how, and the global perspective that they have because they operate and provide services to other telcos all over the world. They bring in expertise that we don’t necessarily always have”.
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