(Ecofin Agency) - Egypt plans to cede its stakes in 32 companies, including Egypt Telecom, by March 2024. The initiative is part of a program to mobilize budgetary resources and boost growth in the national economy.

Egypt has revived its plans to sell an additional 10% stake in state-owned company Telecom Egypt, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday (May 10), citing unnamed sources close to the matter. The transaction is expected to be completed this month through a listing process.

The Egyptian government began considering a stake sale in Telecom Egypt back in March. The initiative is part of a program to gradually divest from several productive sectors to mobilize budgetary resources and revive the economy, which was impacted by several external shocks. The executive had to suspend the sale process two weeks later due to market conditions.

Re-launching the sale process means market conditions are certainly improving. The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics reported that annual headline inflation was 31.5 percent in April, down from 33.9 percent in March. This is the first month-on-month decline in annual headline inflation in 10 months.

The sale of this additional 10% stake is expected to fetch about EGP 3.8 billion ($122.9 million). Part of the proceeds could be used to improve the coverage and quality of telecom services provided by the incumbent operator. This is expected to improve the operator's position in the mobile segment. According to figures from market research firm Omdia, as of the second quarter of 2022, the operator was controlling 10% of the segment.

Isaac K. Kassouwi