Meditel can grow without an overseas investor: CEO

By Lamine Ghanmi

RABAT (Reuters) - Meditel, Morocco's second-biggest telecoms firm, has the know-how to grow on its own after the recent loss of two major European investors, its chief executive said on Monday.

"Meditel is a global multi-services operator. If a foreign operator was necessary to accompany it at its launch stage and development in the following years, it is not the case now," managing director Mohamed Elmandjara said in an interview.

Spanish peer Telefonica and Portugal Telecom (PT) both sold a 32.2 percent stake they had owned in Meditel since it was launched 10 years ago.

The north African country's privately owned FinanceCom and biggest state fund CDG now equally own Meditel after buying the two stakes for $1.15 billion in September.

The sell-off prompted analysts to ask whether Meditel would be able to cope with fierce competition without the backing of a foreign operator.

Meditel competes against former Moroccan monopoly Maroc Telecom, in which France's Vivendi has a majority stake, and Wana, the telcoms arm of the country's biggest private conglomerate ONA. Kuwaiti Mobile Telecommunications Co owns a 31 percent stake in Wana.

Industry sources told Reuters that several foreign telecoms firm, including the largest firms in the Middle East and North Africa, were interested in buying a stake in Meditel.

"The potential of Morocco's telecoms market draws the attention of foreign telecoms investors. The only way to get into this market would be through Meditel since the government has no plan to sell a licence for the next few years," a senior government official told Reuters.