Mobiserve, a telecommunications services provider owned by two UAE firms, is tipping a 15 per cent boost in revenues this year as it pushes its business further into Africa, its chief executive says.
Mobiserve specialises in building and maintaining telecoms infrastructure such as mobile phone towers, as well as managing mobile networks for operators across the Middle East and Africa.
The company also maintains a call centre and customer billing service for its African clients.
It reported revenues of US$150 million (Dh550.9m) last year, a decline of about 6 per cent from the year before, said Sameh Atalla, the chief executive.
"We're looking for 2010 to beat our numbers from 2009 by trying to be cost efficient," Mr Atalla said. "Our forecast now is that we will see revenues grow by as much as 15 per cent."
There has been a growing trend in the telecoms sector to outsourcing infrastructure management as operators look to cut costs in highly competitive markets such as Africa and India.
The installation of four undersea cables in East Africa by the end of the year is also expected to provide a boom to the continent's telecoms outsourcing.
In January last year, Orascom Telecom sold Mobiserve to Invest AD, the investment company owned by the Abu Dhabi Government, for $180m. Delta Partners, a telecoms consultancy based in Dubai, also holds a 10 per cent stake in Mobiserve.
Since then, the company has opened offices in Kenya and Morocco to explore opportunities in Africa, Mr Atalla said.
"Definitely we will keep expanding in Africa," he said. "India is also on our list, as is Libya and Nigeria. We look where there is opportunity and where is the need."
Mr Atalla said that he intended to speak to Bharti Airtel after the Indian telecoms operator acquires the sub-Saharan Africa assets of Zain, sometime in the next few months.
"It's premature to talk to them right now, but once the deal is concluded we will go to them and tell them we have a unique service they can benefit from," he said.
In April, Bharti Airtel began soliciting bids to outsource the operations it will acquire from Zain, which industry observers estimate are worth more than $1 billion.
Companies such as Mobiserve would either bid directly for those contracts or work as a subcontractor.
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Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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Porsche Macan T: The Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 265hp from 5,000-6,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm from 1,800-4,500rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto
Speed: 0-100kph in 6.2sec
Top speed: 232kph
Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km
On sale: May or June
Price: From Dh259,900
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General John Allen, President of the Brookings Institution research group, commended the role the UAE has played in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism.
He told a Globsec debate of the UAE’s "hugely outsized" role in the fight against Isis.
"It’s trite these days to say that any country punches above its weight, but in every possible way the Emirates did, both militarily, and very importantly, the UAE was extraordinarily helpful on getting to the issue of violent extremism," he said.
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