Algeria’s foreign minister on Wednesday ended speculation Wednesday that
MTN might try to buy Djezzy, the local
subsidiary of Egyptian telecommunications giant Orascom.
Mourad Medelci said during a visit to this North African nation by President Jacob Zuma that “concerning Orascom, the page is turned with SA”.
Algeria made it clear on 3 May that it was prepared to buy Djezzy, using its pre-emption rights, when it learned Orascom’s parent company was in talks with MTN over possible sale of all or some of Orascom’s assets. The Algerian subsidiary is a key part of the company’s operations.
Medelci said he held cordial talks with SA counterpart Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, and “I want to reassure you that my colleague and I discussed this matter in a very positive and serene climate”.
The Orascom affair has added a dose of tension to relations between Algeria and Egypt that increased when SA’s MTN entered the picture, even though nothing was firm.
Algeria’s minister for communications technology, Hamid Bessalah, complained in early May about the “audacity” of starting talks with MTN, saying Orascom was required under Algerian law to notify the country’s regulators.
Medelci said that turning the page on the MTN-Djezzy scenario ”does not signify that SA companies, and in particular MTN, won’t have the possibility of working in Algeria.”.
A range of South African business leaders accompanied Zuma to Algeria. The two countries signed six accords during the visit, including one concerning peaceful use of nuclear energy — of which no details were disclosed. Algeria has two experimental reactors, made in cooperation with Argentina and China. — Sapa-AP
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