Telecel here to stay, says CEO

Telecel Chief Executive Officer, Angeline Vere

Telecel Zimbabwe, despite the problems it has faced in the past couple of years, is here to say, the CEO of the company, Angeline Vere, declared yesterday in Harare.

Vere was speaking at a cocktail organised by the company to assure the market that it has a solid future ahead.

The event was attended by the Zimbabwe’s ICT minister Supa Mandiwanzira, NetOne CEO Brian Mutandiro, Africom CEO Rudo Mudavanhu, ZB CEO Ronald Mutandagayi and other executives from vendors like GTel, ZTE, Huawei and NEC.

“Today is the day we boldly announce to the world that Telecel is here to stay, the day we announce to the world that we are 100% behind you our stakeholders and that we will continue to be the company and the brand that offers value 100% of the time,” said Vere.

Telecel also launched what seems like a new tagline for the company; “Here for you 100%”. Vere said the statement underscores Telecel’s commitment to focus on affordable value offers for customers. New products are lined up to be launched in the soon, she said.

Telecel has had a number of challenges in the last few years, from a lack of injection of enough capital to expand its infrastructure by its former owners, a threat to have its license withdrawn, shareholder squabbles, an acquisition that took so long it caused anxiety amoung management and employees, and now a takeover by a government that might be unable to capitalise the business adequately in a very competitive sector.

Speaking at the event, ICT minister Supa Mandiwanzira also gave assurance that Telecel’s issues are behind it now:

We are all aware that in the past three or so years, Telecel’s existence was clouded with uncertainty due to issues to do with licensing, shareholding and non-compliance with the Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Act.

This state of affairs led some into questioning and doubting the Company’s future.  As a result some of Telecel customers jumped ship during this period of turbulence.  It is with great pleasure that I stand before you this evening, to announce that Telecel has turned a corner and those issues are well behind