Telecom Egypt, Liquid Telecom sign data centre, infrastructure deal

Pan-African Liquid Telecom will invest in Egyptian telecoms under a deal signed with Telecom Egypt. [Photo: Courtesy]

CAIRO- Pan-African Liquid Telecom will be able to invest in Egyptian telecoms under an outline deal signed with Telecom Egypt, the country’s investment ministry said on Saturday.

Liquid Telecom, a subsidiary of Econet Wireless Global, will invest $400 million on data centres, infrastructure and financial inclusion, the ministry said in a statement.

The agreement includes a partnership between Telecom Egypt and Africa Data Centres, a subsidiary of Liquid, to build and operate new data centres across Egypt.

 “The partnership is expected to add new data centre capacities to meet the increasing growth of the Egyptian ICT sector,” the statement said.

A data centre planned to be built in Cairo will be connected to facilities in other countries to form the “largest network of telecommunication centres in Africa,” the statement said.

“Expanding the Africa Data Centres brand into North Africa for the first time signifies our intention to be a truly Pan-African data centre provider,” Liquid CEO Nic Rudnick said in the statement.