[May 03, 2007] Telecom Finance in Middle East and Africa Likely to Exceed US$30 Billion by End of Year Tweet LONDON & DUBAI, United Arab Emirates --(Business Wire)-- The telecom boom in the Middle East and Africa is driving unparalleled levels of financing in the region with more debt capital raised in the first five months of 2007 than the whole of 2006, according to TelecomFinance league table data. This will be discussed at the forthcoming TelecomFinance Middle East, Africa and India event taking place in Dubai 23-24 May 2007 (www.tmtfinance.com/tfmeai07). Telecom operators have raised over US$14.7bn of debt in the first four months of 2007 to support expansion and acquisition strategies, with Etisalat, Orascom, STC, Celtel Nigeria, Oger Telecom and Wataniya all raising syndicated loans this year. 2006 was a record year for telecom financing in the MEA region with over US$14.07bn of debt raised by regional telecom operators for expansion and acquisitions, but 2007 is already on course to smash that record. Telecom Finance editor Dominic Lowndes, who will be chairing the opening session of the conference said: "Telecom operators have been raising more finance than ever in the first half of this year because the competition for the remaining expansion opportunities in the region is intensifying. With MTC spending US$6.1bn on the third mobile licence in Saudi Arabia and Qatar Telecom buying Wataniya for US$3.7bn last month, opportunities for financiers in the Middle East and Africa will continue to surge and the total is likely to exceed US$30bn before the end of the year." "Middle Eastern investors and telecom operators are also looking to invest more in telecom operations in other mature and emerging markets, such as Europe and India, and this requires raising funds from both the Middle East and the international capital markets," said Lowndes. "For instance Emirates International Investment Company (EIIC), has just invested around US$1.5bn for a 3% stake and a seat on the board in French telecom and media company Vivendi, and Etisalat and Orascom continue to target European acquisitions." Telecom financiers will gather at the TelecomFinance Middle East, Africa and India conference in the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai on May 23 and May 24 to discuss further financing and M&A opportunities in the region. The programme will feature more than 30 speakers including: Prakash Bajpai, President, Enterprise Business, Reliance Communications Amer Al Rawas, CEO Oman Mobile Salim Bitar, CFO, Motorola MEA Dr Fahad Mushayt, Head of Strategic Investment Unit, Saudi Telecom Company Mohamed Naguib Al Mallah, Corporate Accounting Officer, Orascom Telecom Holding George Kikvadze, Head of M&A, Investments, Sistema Telecom Ananda Bose, VP, CPM, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (du) Jeremy Sell, Senior VP Business Development, Qatar Telecom Terry Vileski, Chairman, Aircom Bertrand Guiot, Head of Market Development, Europe, BT Global Services Julian McIntyre, President and Treasurer, Gateway Communications David Nataf, Head of M&A/ECM, Middle East & Africa, ABN AMRO Robin Jowitt, Global Head of Telecoms, Transaction Advisory Services, Ernst & Young Tim Schwarz, Partner, Global Head of TMT, Linklaters Ghassan Hasbani, Principal, Booz Allen Hamilton Erik Arveschoug MD, Head TMT, CEEMA, Citigroup Albert Momdjian, MD, Head of Middle East and Africa Investment Banking, Calyon Walid Zein, Executive Director, Goldman Sachs Dr Thomas Tschentscher, TMT Partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Torsten Thiele, Head of Telecoms Project and Infrastructure Finance, Investec Bank Darragh Stokes Managing Partner Hardiman Telecommunications Ltd Marc Chaya, Global Telecom Markets Leader, Ernst & Young Natasha Good, TMT Partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Mark Gregory, Global Head of Advisory Services, Ernst & Young Adil Chikhi, VP Media & Telecoms, MENA Region, BNP Paribas Issues under discussion at the event will include: Expansion strategies for the Middle East, Africa and India; Accessing local and international capital markets: How to finance growth beyond the Gulf; Broadband provision for growth markets: Wireless versus fixed convergence strategies; Building a regional platform in the Middle East; Greenfield opportunities in Africa and India: and capturing market share in new growth markets. Sponsors for the event are Ernst & Young, Linklaters, Booz Allen Hamilton, Investec, Capital MS&L and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. The official media sponsor for the event is AME. The event is researched and produced by BroadGroup and Telecom Finance. Please visit www.tmtfinance.com/tfmeai07 to register. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]