Telecom Egypt Secures $200M of Chinese Financing

Telecom Egypt has signed a long-term financing agreement with a number of Chinese financial institutions, including Bank of China and China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation.

The deal will see the incumbent fixed-line provider receive $200 million in financing to support the deployment of its 4G network. Chinese vendor Huawei helped to bring about the deal by offering Telecom Egypt competitive financing conditions for deploying its core, transmission, and 4G networks.

Telecom Egypt entered the Egyptian 4G market in September 2017 following an extended bidding process. At the time, mobile players Etisalat Egypt, Orange Egypt and Vodafone Egypt were all already offering 4G services.

In April this year, Telecom Egypt’s investor relations director Sarah Shabayek noted that the operator was consulting several banks with a view to obtaining loans worth around $735 million to expand its operational possibilities.

Ahmed El Beheiry, managing director and CEO of Telecom Egypt, said: “The facility benefits Telecom Egypt by providing a simplified purchasing process through a packaged financial solution, while it allows Huawei to further expand its business in Egypt”.

The 48-month deal has a grace period of 24 months. El Beheiry noted that agreeing such a long financing period with favourable payment terms “at the lowest possible costs” demonstrated the operator’s secure financial position.

Reportedly, Telecom Egypt has also reached an agreement with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) which will see the operator receive a $200 million financing facility for investment in infrastructure. – Developing Telecoms