Algeria’s new Minister of Post, IT and Communications, Iman Houda Feraoun, has revealed that there are no current plans to open up the capital of state-owned telecoms operator Algerie Telecom (AT) to the public, as it is viewed as ‘a strategic holding of the state’, Agence Ecofin reports. The official, however, pointed out that the listing of a 20% stake of AT’s wireless arm Mobilis on the Algiers Stock Exchange is still on the cards. Under the plan, which is currently being under review, Mobilis would be spun off in a separate company before the initial public offering (IPO) takes place.
As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, in October 2013 it emerged that the Council of State Holdings (Conseil des participations de l’Etat, CPE), the agency managing the Algerian government’s stake in business entities, was reportedly planning to sell the shares of ten nationalised companies, including Mobilis, to the public. The government wanted to give a strong signal in favour of boosting the stock market and the creation of a market capital by the IPO of a total of 40 state-owned companies by the end of 2015.