Etisalat to Raise $500m in Fresh Debt Funding

Etisalat Nigeria has confirmed plans to raise $500 million in fresh debt financing from local banks to fund network expansion.

Wael Ammar, chief commerical officer, told Reuters that the network investments are to support its plans to add 4 million customers to its customer base this year - taking its total to close to 20 million by 2014.

"We are investing $500 million this year to expand our network and services to Nigerian consumers," Ammar said, adding that Etisalat aims to increase its existing 3,000 cell sites by an undisclosed number.

He noted that the company can continue to grow its customer base as the penetration level in the country is still around the 60% mark.

"We see the second wave of growth coming from the youth segment. It is a huge segment that will ... turn into future consumers and the growth will happen across multiple years," he added.