Breaking: Etisalat Nigeria Is Now 9Mobile

The brand name Etisalat does not exist anymore in Nigeria. It is now to be called 9Mobile according to reports. This is in response to the three weeks timeline given to it to drop the Etisalat brand name by Mubadala Group, its major investor from the United Arab Emirates which pulled out its 45% stake in the company.

Hatem Dowidar, the chief executive of Etisalat International had told Reuters recently that Etisalat was severing ties with its Nigerian arm by terminating its management agreement, which meant that the brand would be phased out of Nigeria

The name was decided at end of a management meeting of the telecom firm in Lagos where 9Mobile was adopted by as the new brand name.

This quick name change was expected as the new CEO, Boye Olusanya, had gone through this same process when Econet/Vodacom had to change its name to Vmobile.

The Etisalat crisis started because it failed to service its 541 billion debt which prompted a consortium of banks to take over the company.