Page 32 - SAMENA Trends - June-July 2020

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

of and commitment to the Carbon Disclosure Project, which its vision to create a safer, fairer, more secure internet through a
provides a reporting framework and guidance to address climate focus on addressing four fundamental challenges to the adoption
change. Zain Vice-Chairman and Group CEO, Bader Al Kharafi of public DLT - technology, security, stability, and governance.
commented, “We feel a sense of purpose in joining the Hedera For the vision to deliver impactful results, the network needs to
Governing Council, which has numerous blue chip, innovation- be governed by representatives from a broad range of market
driven organizations all interested in driving the development sectors and geographies, each with world-class expertise in their
of blockchains and the wider DLT space, which we have already respective industries. Mance Harmon, CEO of Hedera commented,
noted has phenomenal potential. Council membership provides “We are delighted to have Zain Group join the Council, given the
Zain first-hand exposure to cutting-edge and secure technologies company’s sound track record of innovation, and professionalism
that drive innovation, e-commerce and B2B across the region.” in the development and delivery of cutting-edge mobile services
Al-Kharafi continued, “From our own perspective, the growing list and applications. We believe the Council will be enriched greatly by
of new services and applications we have and continue to develop this first organization to join us from the Middle East region, given
in areas such as the Group API platform; mobile money and Zain Group’s eight country footprint. We hope Zain will take full
fintech; e-health; drones; the Internet of Things; and 5G all lend advantage of the opportunity to immerse itself in hashgraph and
themselves to further enhancement through blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies and gain first-hand knowledge
distributed ledger technologies. Our participation in the Council of new technologies and use cases developed on the Hedera
also speaks to another pillar of Zain’s corporate strategy, which network.” The Hedera Governing Council’s members contribute
is to collaborate with leading industry players to achieve mutually technical expertise to manage the technical roadmap, business
beneficial outcomes and thereby improve the products and expertise to advise on business operations, and legal expertise to
services we can deliver to our customers.” Hedera aims to realize help navigate the evolving regulatory environment.

Zain Group Publishes Ninth Annual Sustainability Report, Titled “The Road

to the Future”

Zain Group, the leading mobile telecom innovator in eight
markets across the Middle East and Africa, announces the
publication of its ninth annual sustainability report, entitled
“The Road to the Future”. Embedding sustainability in
every aspect of its business, Zain is dedicated to its digital
strategy of consistently working towards developing the
mobile telecommunications ecosystem centered on a vision
of inclusive development that leads to socio-economic
growth. In this consolidated Group-wide report, the company
focuses on the concept of providing Meaningful Connectivity
which triggers systemic change, ultimately creating room for
development and growth, aiming to address the company’s
social, economic and environmental impacts. Noteworthy, is
the FTSE Russell’s inclusion of Zain Group in its FTSE4Good
Index Series, the world's leading Environmental, Social and
Corporate Governance (ESG) index, a key indicator to help
investors identify companies that meet globally recognized the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer and the publication of
sustainability standards. ‘The Road to the Future” report this report is testament to our ongoing efforts and resolve.” Al Kharafi
includes Zain’s key ESG indicators which is primarily based continued, “FTSE Russell’s inclusion of Zain Group in its FTSE4Good
on the company’s sustainability strategy and initiatives, Index Series reconfirms our commitment to embedding ESG principles
established on six main pillars with its activities driven by in every operational aspect of the company.” On her part, Zain Group’s
the following imperatives: Creating shared value; Promoting Chief Sustainability Officer, Jennifer Suleiman said, “In an era of rapid
social innovation; Inclusivity and leaving no one behind; change and disruption, having a forward-thinking vision is an essential
Addressing Sustainable Development Goals; Tackling climate aspect of our sustainability strategy. At Zain, we welcome the tides of
change; and Youth empowerment. Zain Vice-Chairman disruption as they often provide us the chance to evolve in a positive
and Group CEO, Bader Al-Kharafi commented, “Now more manner.” Suleiman added, “It is short-sighted for a company not to
than ever, the need for a fundamental systemic change is consider what the impact of its operations are on the environment and
central to the region’s transformation and growth. In our adjust its way of doing business accordingly. The reason we remain so
world, digital and technological advancements offer endless committed to publishing our sustainability reports is to be extremely
opportunities to not only address negative impacts but forthcoming of our own experiences in this area, and to inspire others
create positive ones. Through digitization, our wide range of to follow suit and have real conversations and implement real solutions
services, and reach, Zain aims to unlock the possibilities that in the pursuit of truly sustainable programs.”

32 JUNE-JULY 2020