{"id":25725,"date":"2026-04-28T11:26:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T10:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/newsroom\/?p=25725"},"modified":"2026-04-28T11:28:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T10:28:25","slug":"zain-launches-landmark-regulatory-academy-with-gsma-advance-to-empower-its-policy-and-regulatory-professionals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/newsroom\/press-release\/zain-launches-landmark-regulatory-academy-with-gsma-advance-to-empower-its-policy-and-regulatory-professionals\/","title":{"rendered":"Zain launches landmark \u2018Regulatory Academy\u2019 with GSMA Advance to empower its Policy and Regulatory professionals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>Falling under Zain\u2019s Inclusion, Diversity &amp; Equity University (IDEU), the academy<\/em><\/strong><strong><em>&nbsp;will act as a strategic enabler of stronger governance, alignment and sustainable growth<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em>The \u2018People Excellence Partnership\u2019 with&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><strong><em>GSMA Advance provides an accreditation pathway for policy and regulatory talents across Zain Group, setting a&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><strong><em>benchmark for excellence across the industry<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Kuwait, 28 April 2026\u00a0<\/u><\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/zain.com\/\">Zain Group<\/a>, a leading ICT and digital lifestyle provider across eight Middle East and Africa markets, has entered a landmark \u2018People Excellence Partnership\u2019 with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsmaadvance.com\/\"><strong>GSMA Advance<\/strong><\/a>, the GSMA\u2019s learning and skills arm. This collaboration sees the launch of the\u00a0<strong>\u2018Zain Regulatory Academy\u2019<\/strong>, an industry-first initiative that falls under Zain\u2019s Inclusion, Diversity &amp; Equity University (IDEU), delivering accredited training to build world-class expertise among its groupwide policy and regulatory professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Academy provides Zain\u2019s policy, regulatory, legal, and compliance professionals access to GSMA Advance\u2019s globally recognized \u2018Best Practice in Public Policy &amp; Regulatory Impact Accreditation\u2019. This structured program blends self-paced online modules, expert-led seminars, practical assignments, and tailored regional content on critical topics like spectrum management, 5G evolution, IoT, mobile privacy, cybersecurity, competition policy, and digital-age fintech and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Falling under IDEU, the Academy advances Zain\u2019s strategic priorities of bolstering governance, fostering market alignment, building a sustainable talent pipeline, and positioning regulatory leaders as industry thought leaders. It equips Zain teams to navigate complex regulatory landscapes shaped by 5G, AI, cloud, IoT, and data-driven models, ensuring robust compliance, advocacy, and contributions to digital ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Dr. Andrew Arowojolu, Zain Group Chief Regulatory Officer<\/strong>, said:&nbsp;<em>\u201cThe Zain Regulatory Academy extends our people-first investment into a<\/em><em>&nbsp;highly specialized capability area that is becoming increasingly central to the future sustainability of our industry<\/em><em>. As operating environments evolve, this learning initiative strengthens governance, alignment, and sustainable growth through<\/em><em>&nbsp;capability-building<\/em><em>&nbsp;our teams with&nbsp;<\/em><em>globally informed expertise, practical regulatory insight and the confidence<\/em><em>&nbsp;to shape sector-defining conversations that support the economic visions of the nations we serve.\u201d<\/em><em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Dr. Drew MacFarlane, Head of GSMA Advance<\/strong>, added: \u201c<em>We are delighted to welcome Zain Group as a GSMA Advance People Excellence Partner. This collaboration reflects a clear commitment to investing in people as a driver of organizational success. By supporting their policy and regulatory professionals through structured, globally recognized accreditation, Zain is not only strengthening its internal expertise but also setting a benchmark for excellence across the industry<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He continued: \u201c<em>As the regulatory landscape continues to evolve alongside new technologies and business models, organizations must ensure their teams are equipped not just with knowledge, but with validated, industry-recognized capabilities. This partnership is a strong example of how leading operators are taking proactive steps to build those capabilities at scale<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Academy builds on Zain\u2019s IDEU\u2019s flagship platform with Spain\u2019s IE University. Since 2023, IDEU has engaged 2,000 employees with digital transformation programs (including master\u2019s pathways), achieving a 92% course pass rate, 800+ active master\u2019s students, 10,000+ certificates, and 100,000+ training hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>-ENDS-<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About the GSMA<\/strong>&nbsp;<br \/>The GSMA is a global organisation unifying the mobile ecosystem to discover, develop, and deliver innovation foundational to positive business environments and societal change. Our vision is to unlock the full power of connectivity so that people, industry, and society thrive.&nbsp;Representing&nbsp;mobile operators and organisations across the mobile ecosystem and adjacent industries, the GSMA delivers for its members across three broad pillars: Connectivity for Good, Industry Services and Solutions, and Outreach. This activity includes advancing policy; tackling today\u2019s biggest societal challenges; underpinning the technology and interoperability that make mobile work; and providing the world\u2019s largest platform to&nbsp;convene&nbsp;the mobile ecosystem at the MWC and M360 series of events.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Media contact<\/strong>&nbsp;<br \/>GSMA&nbsp;Press&nbsp;Office&nbsp;<br \/><a href=\"mailto:pressoffice@gsma.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pressoffice@gsma.com<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kuwait, 28 April 2026\u00a0: Zain Group, a leading ICT and digital lifestyle provider across eight Middle East and Africa markets, has entered a landmark \u2018People Excellence Partnership\u2019 with\u00a0GSMA Advance, the GSMA\u2019s learning and skills arm. This collaboration sees the launch of the\u00a0\u2018Zain Regulatory Academy\u2019, an industry-first initiative that falls under Zain\u2019s Inclusion, Diversity &amp; Equity [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":25726,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"algolia_discover_type":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.0 (Yoast SEO v22.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Zain launches landmark \u2018Regulatory Academy\u2019 with GSMA Advance to empower its Policy and Regulatory professionals - Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/newsroom\/press-release\/zain-launches-landmark-regulatory-academy-with-gsma-advance-to-empower-its-policy-and-regulatory-professionals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zain launches landmark \u2018Regulatory Academy\u2019 with GSMA Advance to empower its Policy and Regulatory professionals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kuwait, 28 April 2026\u00a0: Zain Group, a leading ICT and digital lifestyle provider across eight Middle East and Africa markets, has entered a landmark \u2018People Excellence Partnership\u2019 with\u00a0GSMA Advance, the GSMA\u2019s learning and skills arm. 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