TE cozying up to China: Telecom Egypt and China’s Huawei Technologies signed a USD 200 mn long-term financing agreement with a number of Chinese financial institutions, including the the Bank of China and the China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure). The four-year loan, which Huawei facilitated for TE with “competitive financing conditions,” will be used to finance the roll out of TE’s 4G services and “the deployment of transmission and core networks,” TE said in a press release yesterday (pdf). “TE has several strategic long-term expansion plans to be delivered in the coming years. To achieve such plans we have worked on attaining long-term financing at the lowest possible cost as well as the most convenient payment terms to match our cash flow generation,” CEO and Managing Director Ahmed El Beheiry 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 news comes as TE is still reportedly seeking a USD 200 mn short-term facility from the African Export-Import Bank, which sources said will be used to finance the USD 90 mn acquisition of MENA Cables from Orascom Telecom Media and Technology, as well as other investments in telecom infrastructure.