MOBILE Telecommunications Company (MTC), the parent company of Celtel International- and IFC – the private sector arm of the World Bank Group- have completed the signing of a loan deal worth $320 million, the IFC's largest ever financing in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The deal, which was completed in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on Monday, will enable five major Celtel operations including Uganda to expand and upgrade their mobile networks, according to a July 24 statement from Celtel Uganda.
The statement said the investment will create "new opportunities" for businesses and consumers across the economic spectrum in countries which also include DR Congo, Madagascar, Malawi and Sierra Leone, which have extremely inadequate fixed-line networks and very low telephone penetration rates.
The development, which was first announced at the World Economic Forum in South Africa last month by Celtel Chairman Dr Mo Ibrahim, will see the IFC provide a loan worth $160 million (Shs272 billion) from its own account, which will be complemented by an equal amount in syndicated loans with participating commercial banks and parallel loans from bilateral financial institutions.
According to earlier reports, Celtel Uganda will get a cut of $40 million (Shs68 billion) from the deal, which it will gladly inject into its network expansion in the country, almost bringing it on equal footing with MTN, its main rival.
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