e&'s Khalifa Al Shamsi on engineering a new era of digital possibilities

Gulf Business

10-03-2025

Images: Supplied
For decades, telecommunications firms have grappled with a fundamental challenge: evolving beyond connectivity and transitioning into being a driving force of the digital economy. Few have navigated this transformation as successfully as e&.
Once a regional telecom operator, the UAE-based giant has emerged as one of the world's fastest-growing technology groups, leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, fintech and innovative digital lifestyle experiences to reimagine its business model.
In 2024, the company's expansion and diversification gathered pace. A
More tellingly, e&'s majority acquisition of PPF Telecom's assets in Central and Eastern Europe — adding over 10 million new subscribers — signalled a decisive push into global markets. The company also expanded its enterprise cloud and SAP capabilities through the acquisition of GlassHouse, establishing its foothold in Türkiye, South Africa and Qatar.
Yet, at the heart of e&'s transformation lies more than just scale. Recognised by Brand Finance as the 'World's Fastest Growing Brand', e& has seen its brand value soar to $15.3bn — strengthened by the integration of the legacy 'Etisalat' brand and an organic year-on-year revenue growth of 13 per cent on a consolidated basis. It also marks an evolution that extends far beyond traditional telecoms.
'The measure of our success is not just in numbers but in the impact we create,' said Jassem Mohamed Bu Ataba Alzaabi, chairman of
e&'s impact as a global technology giant is rising rapidly, backed by a growing brand portfolio and investments exceeding $20bn. Its long-term vision centres on building a robust, future-ready digital ecosystem that empowers and enables enterprises, governments, and communities to grow and thrive.
Building
on innovation and diversification
With the company intensifying its ambition to 'Go for More' in 2025 and beyond, two complementary yet distinct verticals — e& international and e& life — will play a significant role in powering e&'s growth and diversification.
'We're enabling people to participate in the digital economy, regardless of their location. We are leveraging our core telecommunications infrastructure to support and innovate across sectors such as fintech, media, digital lifestyle, and more,' states Khalifa Al Shamsi, who helms both verticals.
Al Shamsi, who has three decades of experience in the telecoms and ICT sectors, has been instrumental in navigating the two entities through the complexities of digital transformation and expansion across regional and global markets.
'The purpose of e& life is to empower digital lifestyles by offering a suite of services that cater to the evolving needs of consumers — whether it's entertainment, financial services, or personalised experiences,' says the CEO. 'Meanwhile, e& international is a key pillar of our group strategy, driving one of our core objectives: portfolio diversification of our telco brands. These brands not only provide mobile and internet services but also serve as enablers of global digital transformation.'
Expanding
horizons
With around 2.6 billion people (about 32 per cent of the global population) still offline, the need for inclusive and meaningful connectivity has never been more urgent.
Al Shamsi stresses, 'Last year, e& international launched innovative solutions and undertook strategic expansions, reinforcing our commitment to bringing more people into the digital economy.'
By investing in 5G deployment in Egypt and expanding fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) infrastructure in Pakistan and Morocco, e& international is accelerating organic growth while advancing next-generation digital infrastructure. In addition, the groundwork for sustained growth was reinforced with key investments in 2024, including enhancing network power resilience in Egypt, modernising networks and IT infrastructure across its OpCos, and expanding coverage through new site rollouts and 4G upgrades, particularly in Pakistan, Egypt, and Afghanistan.
With a telecom footprint spanning 20 countries (including e& UAE), the company is future-proofing its operations through AI-powered automation, advanced machine learning, and enhanced customer analytics. These innovations have optimised network performance, anticipated demand patterns, and enhanced service delivery at scale.
At the same time, e& international is expanding its digital offerings with a focus on customer experience, accelerating the adoption of digital channels, and leveraging AI-driven solutions to enhance the overall customer journey and drive operational efficiencies by reducing response times and service call volumes.
This focus on enhancing digital experiences aligns with
e& international's broader strategy of expansion and investment in markets with stable currencies and well-established regulatory environments.
Building on this momentum, e& international's acquisition of a majority stake in PPF Telecom Group in October 2024 extended e& group's operational presence to 38 countries across the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and now Europe.
'This expansion is not just about geographic growth — it's about accelerating digital transformation in these new markets,' explains Al Shamsi. 'By leveraging PPF Telecom's established presence, we are introducing cutting-edge digital products, enhancing both B2B and B2C offerings, and unlocking synergies across multiple dimensions.'
When it comes to rolling out next-gen networks and best-in-class digital services, AI and automation remain the bedrock for e& international's strategy across the markets it operates in, with over 50 AI use cases across seven key domains being prioritised for deployment in the next two years.
Meanwhile, the company's AI-powered customer value management system is delivering hyper-personalised offers, optimising pricing models and driving greater engagement.
On the technology front, e& international is introducing self-healing networks with AI-driven automation, proactive service management and predictive capacity planning — accelerating network excellence while reducing deployment costs by up to 30 per cent.
The company is also poised to meet the rising demand for digital transformation with its Partner Market Programme expanding into high-growth markets.
'So far, we've welcomed Tunisie Telecom in Tunisia, Azercell in Azerbaijan, and Perfectum in Uzbekistan, bringing the programme's reach to three countries with more in the pipeline,' says Al Shamsi.
While e& international is strengthening access to the digital economy, e& life, including its financial, entertainment and lifestyle services' verticals, is redefining the consumer experience across the region.
e& is pioneering
digital finance
e&'s extensive telecommunications infrastructure powered by 5G technology has provided a strong foundation for its expansion into digital financial services.
'Our advanced and extensive network infrastructure and customer touchpoints give us an unmatched advantage in the fintech space,' says Al Shamsi. 'With integrated payment gateways, secure digital platforms, and AI-powered financial insights, we are offering seamless, accessible, and customised financial services to millions.'
This advantage has proved successful with the company's fintech arm, e& money, showing consistent and remarkable growth. Expanding its reach into underbanked regions, the company's fintech solutions are bridging gaps in financial accessibility, ensuring that more individuals and businesses can participate in the digital economy with ease and security.
e& money, also the first digital wallet licensed by the Central Bank of UAE, has emerged as the leading financial super app in the region. 'In 2024, downloads grew by 1.6 times year-over-year, with monthly active users increasing by 2.5 times,' says Al Shamsi.
As the UAE's number one fintech app, it also outperformed incumbents across key metrics, more than tripling its gross transaction volume (GTV) and increasing remittance GTV by 3.2 times. Additionally, the number of cards issued reached 850,000.
Al Shamsi says: 'e& money's AI-powered self-KYC solution has revolutionised onboarding, reducing verification time from 30 days to just two minutes, while our real-time fraud detection system enhances transaction security.'
'Additionally, we've introduced a unique IBAN for every customer, backed by First Abu Dhabi Bank, bringing a banking-level experience to mobile finance,' Al Shamsi notes.
For traditional bank customers, it integrates seamlessly, while for financially underserved groups — such as domestic helpers and self-employed workers — it provides an IBAN with no fees or minimum balance requirements, ensuring secure digital transactions.
Partnerships have played an important role in supporting e&'s financial services across the region. In Egypt, e& Neo, launched in partnership with Mashreq Bank, introduced the country's first fully digital banking service, enhancing accessibility and security.
In the remittance space, partnerships with Mastercard and MoneyGram through e& money enhance digital accessibility, while collaborations with Wio Bank and Careem further streamline digital payments.
In 2024, Wio (in which e& holds a 25 per cent stake) continued its breakout success — already profitable and scaling fast. Deposits tripled, and revenue surged three times, reinforcing its leadership as the region's most dynamic neobank.
'e& money is also leveraging key partnerships with Mastercard, Samsung, Apple and Google to enable secure, contactless payments,' says Al Shamsi. 'These collaborations enhance convenience for UAE residents, allowing them to make seamless transactions online and in stores globally. By integrating flexible mobile payment solutions, we are making digital finance more accessible and intuitive.'
e& money is expanding its financial ecosystem with innovative wealth creation tools, making financial empowerment more accessible than ever. With a Finco licence application submitted, the company is set to introduce micro-loans, paving the way for broader lending solutions launching in 2025. Embedded finance services are set to debut in GoChat, with more integrations on the horizon, including partnerships with retailers and exchange houses. Additionally, e& money is democratising gold investing, offering new avenues for users to build and grow their wealth seamlessly.
'Leveraging state-of-the-art credit scoring, e& money will offer seamless microloan services, significantly expanding access to essential capital. Additionally, the launch of a secure and transparent digital wage protection system will ensure timely salary payments and enhance financial security and trust for both workers and employers,' Al Shamsi says.
Complementing these initiatives, Wio will keep enriching its breadth of wealth management and neo-banking services specifically designed for consumers and SMEs, with tailored services ranging from credit, savings, cards and crypto, leveraging on in-house and partner capabilities.
'Together, through advanced AI capabilities, strategic partnerships, and robust digital infrastructure, e& money and Wio will continue to drive meaningful financial inclusion across the region,' emphasises Al Shamsi.
In Egypt, digital revenue and monthly active wallets experienced remarkable growth, nearly doubling year-on-year. Building on this momentum, e& Cash launched international remittance, enabling seamless, instant wallet-to-wallet transfers across the globe. PTCL Group in Pakistan has launched several mobile financial service propositions, including the Upaisa Mastercard companion card, the nano-lending service UCash for quick and convenient access to small loans via the app, and instant direct wallet-to-wallet international remittance transfers.
Furthermore, the company is also committed to SME and microfinance initiatives across the region. In Egypt, its subsidiary Erada Microfinance is working in collaboration with UNDP to support women entrepreneurs and financial inclusion through developing accessible health insurance and green financing. Meanwhile, in Pakistan, U Microfinance Bank serves over five million depositors and 400,000 loan clients, with a strong focus on rural communities.
A customer-centric,
digital-first approach
Beyond fintech, customer centricity is echoed across e& life's successful entertainment arm, evision. The evolution of evision represents a major success in digital entertainment across the MENA region. As the region's largest content aggregator and provider, it has created a robust content ecosystem favoured by consumers.
Innovative offerings have been the mainstay of evision, which is a majority equity shareholder of STARZPLAY, a leading subscription video on demand (SVOD) and video streaming platform in the MENA region.
evision launched STARZ ON in 2023. Built in just three months, STARZ ON, an advertising video on demand (AVOD)/ SVOD platform, offers over 10,000 hours of free, high-quality content, along with 50 channels and exclusive programming.
Al Shamsi noted: 'Our AVOD strategy has unlocked massive monetisation opportunities, using data-driven advertising models for hyper-personalised engagement.'
In 2024, STARZ ON cemented its position among the GCC's top three streaming platforms, ranking alongside Shahid and Netflix and quickly becoming the most downloaded streaming service in the region, amassing over 5.9 million downloads in just 12 months.
AI-driven hyper-personalisation made STARZ ON the most downloaded SVOD/AVOD app in the GCC, dynamically curating content to keep audiences engaged.
Meanwhile, evision and STARZPLAY continued to expand their unique content library, sealing new exclusive partnerships with ICC Cricket, Disney+ Hotstar, and UFC which drove record-breaking engagement, making it the second most popular SVOD platform in MENA in 2024.
evision also recently launched Bloom, a bilingual (Arabic and English) educational channel catering to preschoolers. This move reflects e&'s commitment to fostering safe and enriching content for younger audiences. Looking ahead, evision aims to expand original content production, tapping into demand for locally relevant storytelling and exploring free ad-supported streaming television channels.
Al Shamsi says evision is set to expand into original content production, tapping into the growing demand for locally relevant narratives. By investing in regional storytelling, evision aims to foster a stronger connection with audiences while creating a pipeline of exclusive content.
Additionally, the company is exploring opportunities in free ad-supported streaming television channels, further reinforcing its commitment to making premium entertainment accessible to all.
e& international imbues the value of customer obsession across its operating companies. In terms of customer satisfaction, the proof is in the results with e& international achieving number one Net Promoter Scores (NPS) in Pakistan (Ufone), Saudi Arabia (Mobily) and Afghanistan (Etisalat Afghanistan).
A key example of this is the launch of the unified UPTCL app, designed to streamline services and elevate the customer experience in Pakistan. By integrating multiple functionalities into a single platform, the app improves accessibility, simplifies transactions, and reinforces e& international's commitment to seamless digital interactions.
To accelerate the company's progress in digital adjacencies, e& Egypt created a new entity, e& Fintech & Digital Lifestyle, which will oversee e& cash, banking services, insurance, and end-to-end financing. It will also drive the development of the company's digital ecosystem and lifestyle services, including e& Loyalty and its super app, while incorporating the digital entertainment platform, Twist, which offers TV, music and gaming.
Furthermore, the company also unveiled the e& Business branding and app, which introduces the innovative 'Business Pro' mobility package, seamlessly bundled with SaaS solutions, and offers a tailored customer buying journey for Egyptian SMEs. This initiative is further supported by a newly revamped, comprehensive B2B portal, enhancing the overall experience.
Revolutionising
digital lifestyle services
While evision and STARZPLAY are expanding e& life's leadership across the entertainment space, Careem Technologies has solidified its position as the region's leading Everything App, seamlessly integrating mobility, delivery, and financial services under one single, personalised app.
Careem Technologies, in which e& acquired a majority stake in 2023, features a multi-service model that drives deep platform engagement, with users who engage in four or more services generating 10 times the transaction value per month compared to single-service users.
In 2024, Careem Technologies more than doubled its revenues, achieving EBITDA profitability in Dubai. The Careem Plus membership also surged, driving deeper engagement across mobility, food delivery, and payments. Careem's AI-powered DineOut concierge has redefined dining, connecting users with top restaurants in real time.
'Careem's success is a testament to our commitment to innovation and customer-centricity,' says Al Shamsi. 'By integrating AI-driven efficiencies and expanding into new markets, we're redefining what a super app can achieve.'
Careem's AI-powered innovations, such as the AI-driven content creation tool have also automated 80 per cent of visual content production, cutting costs and doubling efficiency. AI-powered automation transformed efficiency with 85 per cent of marketing content generated via GenAI, cutting costs while accelerating impact.
Looking ahead, Careem is focusing on deepening platform engagement, expanding into Saudi Arabia, and enhancing cost efficiencies through AI-driven personalisation. 'Our goal is to ensure long-term profitability while delivering unparalleled value to our customers,' Al Shamsi emphasises.
Going for
more
As the company moves forward, e& life and e& international are making bold strides in AI, embedded finance, and next-generation telecom solutions. 'Our vision is clear — we are building a diversified, future-ready technology portfolio that goes beyond traditional telecommunications,' affirms Al Shamsi.
With connectivity as the cornerstone of its strategy, e& life and e& international are not merely keeping pace with the digital revolution — they are leading it. Through strategic acquisitions, forward-thinking investments, and a culture of relentless innovation, e& is shaping the blueprint for a smarter, more connected world.
'We are not just connecting people; we are empowering them to thrive in a digital economy that fosters prosperity, inclusion, and sustainable growth,' concludes the CEO, reflecting on the transformative journey ahead.