Egypt Telecom to sue Algeria, seeks international support

Egypt has invested around $6bn in Algeria Goverment-owned Egypt Telecom is set to sue Algeria in a bid to recover 454 million Egyptian Pounds [$68.7m], CEO Mohammed el-Nawawy has said, adding that his company may also seek international arbitration in the conflict.Egyptian prosecutors received a report from the country's Central Auditing Organisation [CAO] on Saturday, which cited Egypt Telecom for misuse of public funds to the tune of 10 billion Egyptian Pounds [$1.5bn].
The report said that Egypt Telecom "squandered and lost" 450 million Egyptian Pounds on an enterprise project in Algeria. It added that Egypt Telecom did not specify who was responsible for the investment to run the project in Algeria, which lost a billion pounds in total, of which the Egyptian company recovered 454 million.
In a statement to the Egyptian Exchange on Monday, Egypt Telecom said it was "acting to secure its rights and is currently following voluntary liquidation procedures in addition to studying the legal feasibility of seeking international arbitration."
The dispute between the Egyptian company and its Algerian partners began the Egypt Telecom branch in Algeria was targeted in violence after the two countries played a football World Cup qualifier in 2009. Egyptian Telecom executives said Algeria refused to compensate the company.
Egyptians have invested around $6bn in Algeria, making the Maghreb state Egypt's largest external market. Algeria invests $50m in Egypt.