African communication giant Celtel has borrowed 320 million U.S. dollars from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to finance its expansions in Sub-Saharan Africa, Kuwait's official KUNA news agency reported Saturday.

Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC), the owner of the Celtel, said in a statement that it was the largest ever loan extended by the IFC, an arm of the World Bank Group, aiming to encourage the private sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa.

According to the statement, the 160 million dollar loan would come from IFC's own account, while the other half in syndicated loans with participating commercial banks and parallel loans from bilateral financial institutions.

The loan would be used in the expansion and modernization of the MTC's fast-growing networks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi, Sierra Lion, Uganda and Madagascar, said MTC.

Celtel, which was acquired by and became a subsidiary of MTC of Kuwait in 2005, currently has about 20 million subscribers in Africa.

Source: Xinhua