At the African Global Business Forum 2013

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, May 1, 2013 - Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Group today spoke at the opening panel of African Global Business Forum 2013 alongside Her Excellency Reem Al Hashimy, the Minister of State for the UAE, to encourage global investment and trade between the UAE and Africa and to promote Dubai's bid to the World Expo 2020.

"Within Africa, the telecommunications element of ICT on its own may contribute double-digit growth to a nation's GDP," Mr Julfar said. "In the wider context of ICT this increases to up to 25 per cent and when the enabling effects of ICT are included - that is the impact on other sectors of the economy - the range of impact may be as much as 30 per cent".

Mr Julfar said the deployment of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure and support services has a dramatic effect on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and contributes to improvements in areas such as education and health.

"There is great potential for growth in both second-generation wireless telephone technology and mobile broadband subscriptions in Africa, representing a significant opportunity for the telecommunications industry as a whole and for the economies of countries in the continent," Mr Julfar said. "A flourishing telecoms industry will secure employment and training opportunities for citizens."

Etisalat Group, a leading regional telecom operator in emerging markets in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, currently has operations in the African countries of Egypt, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, the Ivory Coast, Benin, Gabon, Niger and the Central African Republic.

In Nigeria, Etisalat is engaged in multiple large-scale projects that will contribute to ICT development and benefit many areas of society. These include partnerships with the education and health sectors to increase opportunities for local people and fight diseases such as polio. It is also using the latest mobile broadband and electronic commerce technologies to provide access to services such as mobile banking and entertainment.

Mr Julfar said innovative and added-value services that the Group offers in African and emerging markets include Flous - which means "money" in Arabic - a service to enable customers to use their mobile devices like a "digital wallet" for a variety of payments and transactions, including domestic and international money transfers, bank account management and purchase of tickets for transport. He also described the impact of Mobile Baby, which is saving hundreds of lives across the continent by providing access to health information for pregnant women in rural communities.

"These types of solutions provide unconnected communities in emerging markets the ability to improve the standard of their living conditions, and in some cases, can even save lives," Mr Julfar said.

Etisalat, which is a Premier Partner for Dubai's bid to host World Expo 2020, recently submitted a binding offer to acquire Vivendi's total stake in Maroc Telecom, representing approximately 53 per cent of the capital and voting rights. If successful in its bid, Maroc Telecom would significantly add to Etisalat's operating footprint in Africa.

-Ends-

About Etisalat:
Strong commitment to excellence and innovation has seen Etisalat become one of the world's fastest-growing telecom groups, rapidly expanding across Asia and Africa. Its UAE operations, strategically located at the crossroads of East and West, enables Etisalat to be the major hub in the Middle East for Internet, voice, broadcast, roaming and corporate data services. Etisalat has been recognised as 'Best Operator' 10 times since 2006 and 'Best Wholesale Provider' four times in the last three years. Servicing 141 million customers in 15 countries Etisalat continues to reach out to new customers and markets.

For more information: - www.etisalat.com

Etisalat Media Desk
E: sking@etisalat.ae
T: +971 50 2205118
L: +9712 618 2173
F: +9712 632 4223

© Press Release 2013