Egypt's El Sewedy to Invest $350m in Niger

Egypt's El Sewedy Electric the Arab world's biggest listed cable maker, plans to enter Niger by investing about $350 million in fibre optic and power transmission projects, the group's vice president said.

Sewedy, which has operations in about 15 African countries, signed an accord with nationalised telecoms firm Sonitel to help the Niger company modernise its infrastructure before a planned privatisation, Niger's government said in a statement. "We aim to invest more than $350 million in Niger, specifically on a proposed fibre optic project and also on power transmission," Sewedy's Hazem El-Haddad said on Niger state television.

Niger's parliament voted in May to nationalise Sonitel. The company had been controlled by a Chinese-Libyan consortium but the government scrapped that deal in 2009, partly because of a lack of investment.