Zain of Kuwait to List on London Stock Exchange

Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Zain, the Kuwait-based phone company with operations in 22 Middle East and African countries, plans to list on the London Stock Exchange in the first quarter of 2009, Chief Executive Officer Saad Al Barrak said.

The plan will allow more people to get a stake in the company's growing operations, Al Barrak told reporters today in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Details of the company's first listing are still being worked out, he said.

Zain will begin an operation later this year in Ghana as part of agreements concluded with the western African country's government, Barrak said. It will list on the Ghana Stock Exchange within two or three years, with Kenya and Nigeria to follow, he said.

Africa is attracting investment from mobile-phone companies because it has the potential for faster growth than developed regions. The continent has about 28 wireless subscribers per 100 inhabitants, according to the International Telecommunication Union. In Western Europe, there are 108 subscriptions per 100 people, according to Dublin-based firm Research and Markets.

The group, which was operating in 14 African countries as Celtel, today re-branded all its operations to Zain as part of its bid to become one of the world's top 10 mobile-phone companies by 2011, Barrak said.

``By re-branding to Zain, we are bringing together our African and Middle East operations under a single, strong and unique identity,'' Barrak said.

The company plans to boost investment in Africa, which accounts for two-thirds of its operations, Barrak said. It will make significant investments in new licenses and acquisitions on the continent in the next five years, the CEO of Zain Africa, Chris Gabriel, said on July 30.

To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Kampala via the Johannesburg bureau at + abolleurs@bloomberg.net.