Zambia forces Zain to reduce layoffs

As mobile service provider Zain moves to reduce headcount in Africa and the Middle East, the Zambian government has forced the company to cut down the number of workers to be laid off.

Zambian Minister of Labor and Social Security Austin Liato said the company has agreed to cut down its workforce in Zambia by only 58 positions, from almost 100 earlier announced by the company's CEO.

The Zambian government, Liato said, would not accept the move by the company to lay off workers in Zambia under the guise of global economic meltdown.

Liato said last week however, that after a meeting with management, Zain Zambia agreed that they will only retrench 58 workers. He said management told him that they were basically implementing the structural changes to align the company to the group's new operating model, called Drive2011, and not because of global economic crisis.

The other Zain workers that were to be cut off in Zambia will now be redeployed with other services within Zain Zambia.

"The process being carried out by the company is also a strategic business plan aimed at advancing the company's business," Liato said.

Two weeks ago, Zain Zambia began retrenching workers following the announcement by the company's headquarters in Kuwait that the company is restructuring its operations.

The Drive2011 is aimed at propelling the company toward its target of being a top 10 global mobile operator by 2011.

Zambia has become the first country in the region to force the company to reduce the number of people to lose their jobs.

According to Zain Group CEO Saad Al Barrak, the company is cutting 2, 000 jobs out of a workforce of more than 15,000.

The company is cutting 20 percent of its workforce in Kenya, but the numbers in other countries are not yet known.

Zain claims that since 2005 when it entered the market, the company has invested more than US$12 billion in Africa and more than $500 million in Zambia.