Tunisie Telecom secures €100m loan for network infrastructure
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Tunisie Telecom secures €100m loan for network infrastructure

Tunisie Telecom has negotiated financing agreement for €100 million from the European Development Bank to develop its network infrastructure

Tunisie Telecom has secured a financing agreement for €100 million from the European Development Bank (EIB). The deal was signed by Nizar Bouguila, CEO of the telecom operator, and the president of the EIB, Werner Hoyer at an official ceremony in Tunisia.

Speaking at the ceremony Werner Hoyer said. “In view of the challenges currently facing Tunisia, it is our responsibility to act rapidly and decisively to restore the confidence of public and private investors. This is why we have decided to step up substantially our activity in Tunisia from now until 2020, with an overall investment of €2.5bn to support the public and private sector in key sectors of the Tunisian economy such as private entrepreneurship, sustainable infrastructure, social housing, energy, education and training of young people and also foreign direct investment and innovation. In this way, we are providing fresh stimulus to investment and job creation and opening up new opportunities.”

Tunisie Telecom said: “Plans to use EIB’s loan to develop its landline and mobile high-speed networks by establishing 1,500 4G stations across the nation, and laying 2,000 km of fibre optic cable. Part of the financing will be used to modernise, including the national transport network, through the establishment of 100 Gbps and 400 Gbps links. The metropolitan collection network will also be upgraded by implementing, for the first time, the C-WDW technology, to meet the growing demand for high-speed networks,” the operator said.

During his official visit to Tunisia, EIB President Werner Hoyer also signed several finance contracts for a total of EUR 389,1m, reflecting the EIB’s strong commitment to assisting Tunisia with its economic and social development programme. The President was accompanied during the trip by EIB Vice-President Román Escolano.

According EIB’s CEO, the loan to Tunisie Telecom is to support the operator in the process it initiated in the past months to revitalize its business. “This facility is for us, more of a commitment that we will position ourselves more in Tunisia’s ICT market to improve internet across in the country, and in its remote areas particularly,” said Werner Hoyer.

This project is supported by ‘InnovFin – EU Finance for Innovators’ – large projects, with the financial backing of the European Union under Horizon 2020 Financial Instruments and is the first one outside of Africa.




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