Telecom Egypt secured $200 million in financing through an agreement with Chinese financial institutions including Bank of China, in a deal facilitated by vendor Huawei to help the operator boost its 4G rollout.

In a statement, Telecom Egypt said it signed a long-term financing agreement with Chinese financial institutions including Bank of China and China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation.

Huawei played a key role in the move by providing competitive financing conditions to Telecom Egypt for the roll-out of its 4G network and the deployment of transmission and core networks.

Incumbent fixed operator Telecom Egypt launched 4G services in September 2017, following a long-running auction process, putting it in competition with the country’s other mobile players Orange Egypt, Etisalat Egypt and Vodafone.

In an interview with Bloomberg, the company’s investor relations director Sarah Shabayek said in April it was in talks with a number of banks about securing loans worth around $735 million to give it more flexibility in its operations.

The agreement with the Chinese firms will run for 48 months, with a grace period of 24 months.

Ahmed El Beheiry, managing director and CEO of Telecom Egypt, said attaining long-term financing “at the lowest possible costs” and through convenient payments terms indicated its strong financial position.

“The facility benefits Telecom Egypt by providing a simplified purchasing process through a packaged financial solution, while it allows Huawei to further expand its business in Egypt”.

Earlier this month, Telecom Egypt also reportedly secured a $200 million financing facility from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), for infrastructure based investments.