Vodafone Group CEO Nick Reed said that his company is set to sign a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia over the sale of its 55 percent stake in Vodafone Egypt to Saudi’s biggest telecom operator STC.
The announcement came during a meeting between Reed and the Egyptian Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, on Tuesday, in the presence of Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat.
Reed said he had specifically come for the meeting with Madbouly to officially notify the Egyptian government of the sale.
Reed praised the “excellent” cooperation between Egypt and Vodafone International over the course of 22 years.
The Vodafone Group CEO also acknowledged the Egyptian government’s “support” for the company, which he said made Egypt one of the most important areas for the company in terms of its investments around the world, and contributed to Vodafone’s entry into other areas internationally and their role in investment projects in Egypt.
Reed explained that Vodafone’s decision is mainly related to the company’s strategy to focus on investments.
During the meeting, Talaat said that the Egyptian market remains “promising” and that the Egyptian telecom sector is attractive to investments.
He pointed as well to Vodafone’s statement that the level of services provided to the company’s customers in Egypt will not be impacted by the potential sale process.
Talaat added that the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology will continue to cooperate with Vodafone International on remaining projects being implemented at the present time.
For his part, the Prime Minister also expressed Egypt’s appreciation of years of cooperation with the global Vodafone Group.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
