• The new brand demonstrates the Group’s commitment to become a global technology and investment conglomerate that accelerates the digital transformation journey while empowering societies.
• HH Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan commends e& for steering its global digitalisation leadership through pioneering advanced technologies, advancing ICT infrastructures, and fuelling growth while unlocking value.
• The launch further strengthens the UAE’s standing as the Middle East technology and digitalisation hub.
Abu Dhabi, 24 February 2022: His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Minister of Presidential Affairs, today launched e&, marking the transformation ambitions of Etisalat Group into a global technology and investment conglomerate.
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Commenting on the launch, HH Sheikh Mansour emphasised the importance of capitalising on opportunities that the fast-evolving business landscape continues to present in the age of technological disruption. He commended the efforts of e& in devising a more progressive business model that sustains its hypserscaling ambitions, promotes new ventures and partnerships, and maximises value across its operations.
His Highness said, “The transformation of e& from a telecom company founded more than four decades ago in the UAE into a global influence in digitalisation highlights its role in upholding the UAE’s sustainable economic development and diversification plans. We commend e& for being the national champion that steers its global digitalisation leadership through pioneering advanced technologies, advancing ICT infrastructures, and fuelling geographic expansions while unlocking value.”
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The launch of the new brand identity for Etisalat Group was attended by His Excellency Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, H.E. Mohamed Bin Hadi Al Hussaini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs and H.E. Jassem Mohamed Bu Ataba Alzaabi, Chairman of e&.
The ambitious strategy
As part of its strategy, e& will enhance customers experiences across all segments by ideating, designing, and delivering a range of innovative and breakthrough technologies, driven by its track record of success. This strategy is aimed at accelerating growth through the creation of a resilient business model that is representing the Group’s main business pillars.
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Telecom will retain the previous branding identity while upholding the Group’s rich telecoms heritage, bolstering the Group’s strong telecoms infrastructure and maximising value for its customer segments, in the UAE and internationally. In addition, it will expand into new geographic markets while continuing to drive operational performance in the 16 markets where it operates.
e& life is focused on enhancing customer delight by becoming an integral part of the lives of its customers. The business pillar has already made robust plans to deliver next-generation technologies and digital experiences that will bring the world to the customers’ fingertips through smart connectivity platforms in entertainment, retail and financial services.
e& enterprise will be the driving force behind the digital transformation of governments, corporates and enterprises. Through its breakthrough technology solutions in cybersecurity, cloud, Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), as well as deploying mega projects, e& enterprise will create real business value as it continues to leverage on its expertise as a digital managed company having the strength and reach of a global trusted partner.
Maximising shareholder value while strengthening global presence is key to the e& strategy to empower societies. e& capital will act as a pillar for growth for the Group as it drives new acquisitions and mergers in line with its vision for investing in ideas that make the future.
The evolution e& comes at the heels of the Group’s strong financial performance as well as several milestones that contributed to the transformation. More recently, e& ranked first in the Forbes MENA Top 10 most valuable listed companies in the UAE. The Group was also named the strongest telecoms brand in the world. Accumulating success year on year has taken place in light of the considerable investments the Group has made in maintaining its 5G network prowess, investing in breakthrough technologies, aggressive market penetrations, deploying megaprojects, driving smarter connectivity, and pursuing strong partnerships.
A new era built on solid foundations
H.E. Jassem Mohamed Bu Ataba Alzaabi, Chairman of e&, said, “This is a milestone in the history of the Group, and a new era where we reaffirm our commitment to deliver outstanding customer experiences and maximise value for our shareholders. To ensure that the next chapter of our journey is a success, we made the decision to realign our business model so that we can stay agile and fit for the future.
“This successful journey has been made possible through the continuous support of the UAE leadership as we become key enablers in the digital transformation taking place globally across all industries.”
He added, "Our evolution is built on the solid foundations of several historical achievements, multiple milestones and robust financial performance, highlighting our global technological leadership and our confidence in leading change for growth. During this time, we have also worked tirelessly to ensure that our solutions positively impact people’s lives at every touchpoint. We are now ready to be the future-focussed nexus that will drive more positive change for our customers and shareholders through our robust expertise.”
Transformation driven by thought leadership
e& has already demonstrated its robust industry leadership when it comes to digital transformation when it announced the establishment of its consumer digital and enterprise digital business units, in addition to attracting partners from around the world to contribute to the digitalisation growth journey.
Commenting on the launch of the new brand and its transformation strategy, Hatem Dowidar, Group CEO of e& said, "The evolution as e& embodies our commitment to double down on enhancing the quality of our solutions while surpassing customer expectations and maximising value creation for our shareholders. Our robust transformation plans will focus on running our business operations more efficiently, diversifying our revenue streams as well as helping our enterprise customers achieve their digital transformation goals adeptly.
“We will continue to identify new growth opportunities, take full advantage of strong partnerships and maintain our edge as the global technology investment conglomerate that makes a difference in people’s lives.”
Hatem Dowidar added, “The digitalisation acceleration during the pandemic offered a new realm of opportunities for us to serve our customers better as they seek more seamless and enhanced digital experiences. Our strong business continuity principles and adept crisis management, combined with our growth mindset, have dramatically impacted our business growth across our operations. We seized the moment to become future makers who are confident to lead a transformation of such grand scale, whether it is being master innovators or enablers of digitalisation in markets where we operate.
“We are keen to contribute to a knowledge-based economy that will digitally empower societies as we move forward with our mission to pioneer next-generation technologies, build breakthrough partnerships and create a new world powered by all of us.”