Given the frantic tower activity in SSA, North Africa seems to have lagged behind the rest of the continent in terms of the transfer of passive infrastructure assets to independent towercos. With political unrest marring business development over the last three years, some of the critical regulatory and governmental infrastructure has been delayed, impacting the development of the market. However with parliamentary elections taking place soon and more stability coming to Egypt, plus MobiNil’s deal with Eaton Towers, there is scope for significant growth in this attractive market. TowerXchange spoke to Tarek Aboualam, whose career in the Egyptian telecoms industry has included time heading up Telecom Egypt and Mobiserve, and asked his thoughts on where the market will go next.
Stability and the road to a new infrastructure model: towers in modern Egypt
