A number of Egyptian banks will jostle their way to providing a loan to third mobile phone operator Etisalat Egypt valued at $1.75 billion. Bankers say that the National Bank of Egypt, CIB Egypt, and the National Societe Generale Bank will top the list of banks that will contribute to the loan. Mohammad Emran, chairman of Etisalat of the United Arab Emirates, announced on Tuesday that Etisalat would seek the equivalent of $1.75 billion of loans for its Egyptian operation. He told reporters in Dubai that the loan would be arranged by a number of Egyptian banks and would be fulfilled within six months. Sahar Al-Sallab, managing director of the CIB-Egypt, said that an alliance was being formed between Egyptian banks to contribute to Etisalat Egypt loan. The alliance would include the National Bank of Egypt, CIB-Egypt, the National Societe Generale Bank and the Arab Bank-Egypt. "A number of other banks would probably join in the alliance, which could include as much as fifteen banks, taking into account the great financial capacity and prospects of Etisalat Egypt, she said. Attya Salem, deputy chairman of the state-owned National Bank of Egypt, said the bank would contribute to the loan. He pointed out that Etisalat Egypt would use part of the loan to repay a previous short-term loan valued at LE 1 billion.
