KUWAIT: Zain Group Vice Chairman Bader Al-Kharafi poses with the six selected 'Generation Z' high caliber Kuwaiti nationals.

KUWAIT: Zain Group, the leading mobile telecom innovator in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa announces the commencement of its 'Generation Z 2018' program for six high-caliber Kuwaiti graduates, who were selected to enter the initiative following a rigorous assessment process. This year's program builds on two previous year-long graduate programs, which now sees four graduates from the 2017 program offered full-time employment, similarly to the 2016 program.

The six new successful candidates for the 2018 program were judged on their creativity, passion, resilience and initiative. The aim of this year-long graduate development program is to develop talented Kuwaiti nationals with a focus on enhancing their digital skill sets to the level required to support Zain Group's digital lifestyle strategy.

'Generation Z 2018' will focus on developing soft skills to foster collaboration and foster team effectiveness, develop creativity and enable innovative thinking, thereby preparing graduates to enter the workforce and contribute successfully. The 'Generation Z' Youth Empowerment initiative is the brainchild of Zain Group CEO and Vice-Chairman, Bader Al-Kharafi, a keen supporter of developing and empowering Kuwaiti youth.

At a ceremony honoring the 'Generation Z 2017' graduates and welcoming the 'Generation Z 2018' interns held in the company's head office, Kharafi commented, "It is widely accepted that youth development and career guidance are factors that catalyze national and organizational development, and on our part, we remain committed to identifying the most talented young people in Kuwait and offering them a platform to reach their full potential."

Kharafi added, "It is important for us to support the education system by defining a series of plans aimed at bridging the gap between today's curricular and the future's unpredictable corporate environment.

We have been very satisfied with the performance of the previous in-take of bright, young Kuwaitis into the program and especially their accomplishments to date as full-time Zainers. We believe this third year will build substantially on what we have done previously and be instrumental in supporting the future development of our digital lifestyle strategy."

The latest set of program participants will be helped to cultivate customer-centric ideas that are relevant and impactful. Developmental areas of interest to Zain include Big Data, digital services, mobile money, data analytics, and innovation.

Participants will be put through their paces, including undertaking extreme sports, international travel and learning more about themselves. The six selected 'Generation Z 2018' interns are: Zahraa Jamal, Ghalya Al Roumi, Laura Al Watyan, Sabikha Al Zahem, Jasem Al Nafisi, and Tareq Al Salem.

In November 2017, Zain Group launched a 'Women Empowerment Network' initiative aimed at achieving gender equality and empowering women in the organization to act, lead, develop, and succeed. Regarding its 'Youth Empowerment' strategy, Zain Group has plans to roll-out programs such as 'Generation Z' and other similar youth initiatives across all its Middle East and African operations.