Etisalat Egypt signs $132M financing deal for expansion

Telecom operator Etisalat Egypt has signed a funding agreement with Commercial International Bank (CIB) worth 4 billion Egyptian pounds (US$132.4 million).

The funding is expected to help the operator offer new and higher value-added services as well as to support its expansion plans in the North African country.

"Etisalat Egypt is keen on investing in infrastructure that provides the best-integrated technology services to our customers and keeps pace with the huge increase in data usage rates across Egypt," said Etisalat Egypt CEO Hazem Metwally.

The CEO noted that the agreement aligned with wider ambitions to contribute to the Digital Egypt project, the North African government's scheme to drive digital transformation initiatives which support Egypt's Vision 2030 national agenda.

"This partnership reflects the CIB's role in supporting businesses in the ICT sector and will further contribute to achieving Etisalat Egypt's strategy in a way that scales up the company's financial position in the market and thus achieve more future business success," added CIB's CEO of Institutional Banking, Amr El Ganainy.

Mobile market mix

There has been an uptick of Egyptian telcos working towards expanding their networks in the North African country.

In February 2022, Orange Egypt was allocated more spectrum by the country's National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA), to be used for both 4G and 5G deployments.

Moreover, in March 2022, Telecom Egypt secured a medium-term loan of $167 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB), to expand its 4G network. The deal reiterates the country's drive towards digital transformation by connecting the underserved.

According to statistics from market research company Omdia, a sister company of Connecting Africa, Etisalat Egypt is the third largest telco in the North African country with an estimated 25 million subscribers and 22% market share at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022.

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Even though Telecom Egypt is the smallest telco in the country, with 13 million subscribers and 12% market share, it owns a 45% stake in Vodafone Egypt, which is the country's biggest mobile operator with almost 40% market share and 45 million subscribers.

The second largest telco in the country, Orange Egypt had about 26% market share with an estimated 29 million subscribers over the same period.

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