Zain Zambia has been forced to reassure shareholders that they will retain their shares and can trade freely despite Celtel Zambia having been taken over by Zain of Kuwait.

Nothing will happen to the company's shareholders, as they will continue holding their shares and trading them at the Lusaka Stock Exchange, Zain Zambia's public relations manager, Bridget Nundwe, said Tuesday.

Zain's announcement comes a few days after Zambian opposition political leader Michael Sata protested the transfer of Celtel Zambia's funds to Zain of Kuwait by the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry.

Sata called the Zambian government's approval of the transaction dubious and said he would press for an explanation as to why the government did not first take time to study Zain's performance, noting that the network is constantly congested and that calls have become expensive.

According to Nundwe, however, it was a coincidence that customers experienced problems with the network at the time of Celtel's rebranding to Zain. The rebranding, she said, has no influence on the network quality.

"If you are a shareholder, you should be proud, because you are a part owner of a global company servicing over 2.4 million customers in Zambia whose network is being improved everyday," Nundwe said.

Zain has established a new technical center equipped to mitigate network failure as one measure to better the network, she added.

Although there has been an improvements in the company's network, it is nevertheless difficult to guarantee that the company will not face challenges in its quest to provide quality service, Nundwe warned.

Zain operates in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.