Mobinil secures US$466 million in funding

Egyptian mobile network, Mobinil says that it has signed a deal for an EGP2.9 billion (US$466 million) consolidated loan to repay some of its existing debts and fund network expansion.

In a statement to the stock exchange, the company said that a banking consortium consists of National Bank of Egypt, Commercial International Bank Egypt, HSBC, and National Societe Generale Bank.

The cellco was recently taken over by France Telecom following a long running dispute with the other main shareholder, Orascom Telecom.

The Egyptian government announced plans to award a fourth mobile licence to the state-owned Telecom Egypt, which also owns a 44 per cent stake in Vodafone’s local subsidiary. The move was criticised by Mobinil’s deputy chairman who said it was a move by the state to strangle private companies.