GreenNSHOOTS

NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF GREENN

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NEWSFROMSOUTHSUDAN

NEWSFROMTHEGROUP

NEWSFROMUGANDA

NEWSFROMIVORYCOAST

INDEX

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Dear Colleagues, 2012 was the year of change for LAP GreenN, and 2013 is going to be the year of progress. Looking back at our achievements during 2012, I realise just how much we have accomplished. We have come a long way together as a team, and have proven that we stand united as a strong company that can face both difficulties, and successes.

I am happy to say that despite reorganising and filtering our customer base, and applying more stringent subscriber requirements, we have still managed to maintain revenues - even increasing them by approximately USD 1 million between 2011 and 2012 across our three active operations.

Gross margins have also improved significantly with an annual growth of 6% , and thanks to our efforts in rationalizing our OPEX and reducing wastages, our annual saving result stands at 43%. Moreover, we have successfully improved our overall EBITDA, cutting our losses by 41% over 2012.

These numbers reflect the efforts that we, together as a Group, have made and the great results we have achieved. I would like to congratulate each and every one of you for this accomplishment, because it would have not been possible without your dedication and hard work.

On another front, I am pleased that we are making an effort to keep abreast of developments and new trends in our industry. In February, a delegation of LAP GreenN members attended the annual GSMA Mobile World Congress, which takes place regularly in Barcelona - the capital of the Mobile world. As a platform for knowledge exchange, networking oppor-tunities, sharing best practices, and showcasing products and innovations; this event is a must attend for telecom professionals. Our participation allowed us to learn more about the latest in industry trends, explore potential collaboration, and to network and meet suppliers.

One piece of exciting news that I would also like to share with you in this note is that preparations are underway for the launch of our Sierra Leone opera-tions, scheduled to take place in Q2 of 2013. We look forward to bringing quality telecommunication services to this attractive market, and to welcoming the Sierra Leone community to our customer base.

In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support. I am very proud to head a team of such hard-working and dedicated individuals. I am confident that together, we will successfully continue to march towards success.

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WAFIK SHATER

WAFIK SHATER

A WORD FROM

CHAIRMAN THE

CEO & CHAIRMAN OF LAP GREEN NETWORKS

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Giving to charity is one of the best ways to make a difference in the world. With this in mind, the Uganda Telecom staff has been at the forefront of efforts to make such a difference. Recently, staff collected clothing, food items and money to present to the children of the Sanyu Babies Home - an orphanage in Kampala that is well-known for providing love and care to abandoned babies. Most of the children that arrive at the orphanage, are found abandoned in rubbish tips, pit latrines, ditches, or even left on the side of the road.

Organized by the Call Center God’s Ministry, all staff members were given a chance to be a part of this happening, either by donating items or by joining the visit!

In a recent survey conducted by the Uganda Communi-cations Commission (UCC) – Uganda’s communica-tions industry regulator; Uganda Telecom was ranked as a top provider of customer care services. For many, customer care is at the heart of an organization that maximizes customer satisfaction, and for UTL, a large part of this recognition was made possible through the efforts of the call center’s staff. The call center operates 24/7 and the staff responds to and deals with all customer queries that are raised through a toll free helpline.

The Managing Director, David Holliday, highlighted the call center’s important contributions to the compa-ny’s success, and the most outstanding agents Q 3 of 2012 were rewarded with prizes.

NEWSFROMUGANDA

THE UNFORTUNATE IN THE SHADOWS

People love to talk for a long time on their phones, but they don’t want to pay too much for these lengthy calls. In order to allow our subscribers to get the best of both, UTL launched an improved value proposition named USWITCH, which specifically targets youth. For just Ushs 500 - less than one quarter of a dollar, customers get up to 25 minutes of talk time. And for just Ushs 749 - about one quarter of a dollar, custom-ers get up to 60 minutes of talk time. These minutes of talk time can be spread out across a whole day, and their use can be activated for multiple days or even a month. Any re-activation of dormant lines (15 days and more), topped up with at least Ushs 500 will be automatically credited with Ushs 3,000 as a bonus. But that is not all…every day and for a duration of forty days, one lucky Uganda Telecom subscriber will win Ushs 1,000,000!

UTL Customers Service Excellence

LET’S TALK,TALK

AND TALK !

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and winUshs 1,00

0,000

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GREENSHOOTS

Wrestling is South Sudan’s most popular sport and also a traditional activity. Wrestling matches are part of the festivities that mark the end of the agricultural season and they attract large numbers of spectators who sing, play drums and dance in support of their favorite wrestlers. The sport manages to bring together many different South Sudanese tribes, involving partici-pants to the maximum. It is also unique in that it is a tool to reduce tribal conflicts - enhancing and embrac-ing national unity.

In conjunction with the Ministry of Youth & Sport, Gemtel sponsored the “Wrestling for Peace and Unity” event last quarter at the Juba Stadium. A number of exciting and memorable matches took place between Dinka wrestlers from the Jonglei State and Mundari wrestlers from Central Equatoria State. The matches were attended by scores of spectators from the different counties of South Sudan.

For the second time running, Gemtel has demonstrat-ed its commitment to this special and meaningful event by offering its sponsorship. This was a substan-tial marketing opportunity for Gemtel, and a channel through which to reach out to potential market subscribers. Gemtel branding was clearly visible at the event, and we were successful in sending out a strong message to actual and potential users. We believe that our involvement through our sponsorship will allow us to create more proximity with local communities, hence increasing brand preference and fostering an emotional connection to the brand.

NEWSFROMSOUTHSUDAN

For the first time in South Sudan, Gemtel launched an SMS and Win competition, giving subscribers a chance to win a free return air ticket for couples to visit the Kampala Serena Hotel, in addition to other rewards, such as free romantic dinners for couples, t-shirts, and airtime. All rewards were presented on Valentine’s Day.Over 20,000 subscribers participated in the competi-tion by answering simple daily multiple-choice questions, and up to 6,000 subscribers won numerous prizes.

WRESTLINGFOR PEACE AND UNITY

SMS AND WIN !

Kampala Serena Hotel

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Over the course of two days, the senior management team met to recap on successes and improvements during 2012, and to think, discuss and create the new strategy for 2013.

Although LAP GreenN CI has had some fantastic success stories during the year, which of course came together with many challenges - one thing is for sure: GreenN CI wants more!

We want more satisfaction for customers, more customers, better quality networks, and better days for our inspiring brand and company!

Following these two days of brainstorming and discuss-ing strategy, senior managers from all departments shared exciting findings for the coming months with the staff at a one-day workshop. Staff members were encouraged to participate in developing GreenN CI’s new vision and values, and when the day came to an end, everyone was engaged in a fruitful team effort that resulted in an exciting vision. We are very enthusi-astic, and more than ready to move forward with this new and intriguing approach.

We are very happy to welcome Serge Assande - our new Chief Technical Officer - to our team. Serge brings years of telecom experience and expertise with him, and is really looking forward to taking on this new challenge. Please join us in extending a warm welcome to Serge, and to wishing him much success in his new role.

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NEWSFROMIVORYCOAST

Serge Assande

WELCOMETOOURTEAM

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WE WANT MORE !

Latest Additions to the Team

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One Group, One Office!The Group is consolidating its activities in one office. The new Group office in Dubai is ready and this will contribute largely to improve coordination amongst Group Operations. With everyone in one place, the Group will be able to manage the operating model transformation more closely and more effectively. This strategic move will also direct-ly benefit operations, thanks to improved synergies and sharing of best practices; and furthermore, it will allow Group employees to reduce their travel time and increase performance.

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STRATEGY WORKSHOP

New Group office in Dubai

In a first initiative of its kind, Group members and top management across all operations gathered in Enteb-be for a three-day meeting. The key objective of the meeting was the presentation of the new group strate-gy that sets the direction for the future of the compa-ny. Beyond this agenda was jam-packed with country reviews, partner and vendor presentations, and team assignments. All aspects of our business were discussed - from the current situation to opportunities, potential drawbacks and future positioning in the market.

The event also included surprises, such as the unveil-ing of the new group logo and branded cocktail party for everyone involved. The workshop ended on a very positive note, and participants went away excited with the new direction of our Group and happy to have met with colleagues in a friendly informal environment, and to share ideas and exchange opinions.

The next such event will take place in dubai in May

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NEWSFROMTHEGROUP

Thank you to everyone who participated in our new logo contest. We received lots of exciting stories about the meaning of our logo, and some extraordi-nary inspirations.

We would like to congratulate Yves Holli from GreenN CI for his input.

“The ‘G’ is in green and ‘N’ is in blue. The ‘N’ is bent forward as if to turn a new page. The new page is in BLUE. When looking into the meaning of the colors in the design, here is what Yves had to say:

GREEN: “Green symbolizes nature. Natural things which give our mind comfort. Green represents success, growth, joyfulness, and friendliness.”

BLUE: “When you see blue, you feel relaxed and calm. The sky is blue, the ocean is blue. Everything which makes you feel relaxed is colored in blue by Mother Nature. Blue portrays creativity, calmness, trust, loyalty and brand reliability.”

Yves believes that the combination of these two colors and two letters demonstrates that GreenN will use its existing human, material and financial resources to move to a new phase of loyalty and trust towards our customers. The brand ‘GreenN’ imposes itself as a strong and reliable brand.

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GreenN & Tecnotree Renew Strategic Partnership and Agree on Receivables

On the 8th of April 2013, Tecnotree and LAP GreenN (now operating under the brand Green Networks) have agreed to renew their strategic partnership and as part of that process have amicably resolved their disputes related to past dues as previously reported in the financial statements of Tecnotree. The parties have agreed on the terms and conditions of their future collaboration and the total value of the agree-ment is USD 5.5 million, payable across 2013 and 2014. As part of the agreement, Tecnotree resumes full support services to GreenN and updates software in use to latest available versions within the next 18 months. Tecnotree will book the income after confir-mation of each payment. Along with the new agree-ment, the parties express their intention to deepen their partnership also in new fields.

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Green Shoots has been prepared by Hend Abdulwahed, Geraldine Coullenot and Nolwenn Cosqueric from LAP GreenN, with the collaboration of Iya Koisse Adoum from Gemtel, and Hervé Yao from GreenN CI and Jamal Sultan from UTL If you would like to contribute to our newsletter, or have any feedback or comments to share with us, please contact:

Hend AbdulwahedEmail: ha@lap-greenn.com

In February 2013, Salem Etorki has joined the team as the Commercial Manager – Libya. Prior to this he worked as the GM Assistant at Huawei Technologies Company, then GM Assistant at ZTE Corporation and as a research engineer at Libyan Center for Remote Sensing and Space Science.Salem holds an MBA and a Higher Diploma in Telecommunication Engineering from the Higher Institute of Electronic Professions Tripoli, Libya.In his new role, Salem will support technical and commercial activities of the Group.

In February 2013, Joanna Roche joined GreenN as the Group’s new Chief Human Resources & Administra-tion Officer. Joanna brings with her a wealth of HR experience with over 15 years of relevant experience at a number of companies. Joanna has dealt with numerous HR issues related to the work of her previous employers in the African continent. Prior to joining GreenN, Joanna was a Group HR Director for Lancashire Holdings. In her new role, Joanna will provide professional HR input to GreenN’s businesses, in line with our turnaround strategy that will create and deliver shareholder

Latest Additions to the Team

APRIL2013

WELCOMETOOURTEAM

Editorial Committee

Joanna Roche

GreenNSHOOTS