Cairo: Algeria's government is willing to meet Orascom Telecom Holding Chairman Naguib Sawiris to discuss the fate of the company's local unit whose planned sale the North African country opposes.
"There are some initial measures and then we will meet," Telecommunications Minister Hamed Bessalah said in an interview aired yesterday on Dubai-based Al Arabiya television. "We will negotiate with Orascom Telecom about the future of Djezzy," he said, alluding to the unit's brand.
MTN Group, Africa's largest mobile-phone company, said in April it was in negotiations to buy all or part of Orascom Telecom. Cairo-based Orascom Telecom's Algerian unit generated the most revenue for the company in 2009, according to its website.
Besides Algeria, Orascom Telecom operates in North Korea, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt, Tunisia, the Central African Republic, Burundi, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Sawiris asked to meet Prime Minister Ahmad Ouyahia after Algeria said last month it was opposed to a sale of Djezzy. Finance Minister Karim Djoudi told Algeria's National Radio that law allows the government to take over the unit.
Shares of Orascom, the biggest mobile phone operator in the Middle East by users, rose as much as 4.4 per cent yesterday before paring gains to close 1.8 per cent up at 6.89 Egyptian pounds (Dh4.51) in Cairo. Bessalah reiterated that the Algerian government is ready to buy Djezzy if it's offered for sale.
"The owners of Djezzy didn't respect the law, especially the regulations of the licence agreement. They should have talked with the government first before negotiating with another company," he said.
"We have requested a meeting and we're still waiting for a response," Orascom spokeswoman Manal Abdul Hamid said.
