Etisalat Misr raises capital to retire 4G license debt

Etisalat Misr is joining the list of companies in Egypt raising capital to retire debt it accumulated to pay for its 4G license. In a high interest rate environment, the company has begun expediting the repayment of EGP 4 bn it owed to a domestic bank consortium, sources told Al Shorouk. Etisalat Misr had borrowed EGP 6 bn from a consortium that had CIB and NBE as lead arrangers which was used to pay for the rights for the 4G license in 2016. Sources say Etisalat Misr’s interest costs rose seven percentage points last year. Al Shorouk says nine multinationals in Egypt are working on retiring debt using funding from their parent companies.