NIAMEY — Egypt's Elsewedy Electric, the Arab world's biggest listed cable maker, plans to enter Niger by investing about US$350 million in fiber optic and power transmission projects, the group's vice president said.
Elsewedy, which has operations in about 15 African countries, signed an accord with nationalized telecoms firm Sonitel to help the Niger company modernize its infrastructure before a planned privatization, Niger's government said in a statement.
"We aim to invest more than $350 million in Niger, specifically on a proposed fiber optic project and also on power transmission," Elsewedy's Hazem el-Haddad said on Niger state television.
Niger's parliament voted in May to nationalize Sonitel. The company had been controlled by a Chinese-Libyan consortium but the government scrapped that deal in 2009, partly because of a lack of investment.
