- Pledge to protect phone makers
- Tax on imported devices ‘irreversible’
- Major producers set up in Egypt
Owners of imported mobile phones in Egypt will have their devices disabled next week unless they pay tax as part of a drive by Cairo to protect international phone producers operating in Egypt.
When the most populous Arab nation invited South Korea’s Samsung and other major smartphone manufacturers to produce their devices in Egypt four years ago, it pledged to ensure protection for their products by preventing unfair competition.
“The decision to stop the operation of imported phones unless their owners pay tax is irreversible,” communications minister Amr Talaat told the daily Addustour on Thursday.
Talaat said the decision was supposed to take effect on April 1 but was extended until April 7 because of the Eid Al-Fitr holiday.
“This decision is not against the citizens. It aims to regulate the local market and provide protection to the local phone industry against unfair competition,” Talaat said.
The minister said that Egypt, which is locked in IMF-mandated reforms to stimulate the economy, launched plans to establish a phone industrial base in 2021 by inviting major manufacturers to produce locally.
He said these units started to face “big challenges” with the surge of imported and smuggled cell phones, which has prompted the government to take measures to protect the local industry.
“We want to slash imports of phones and other products. These measures are also intended to protect the rights of cell phone investors and encourage them to pursue their production and investments in Egypt,” Talaat said.
Egyptian officials said last year that four foreign smartphone makers had set up factories, including Samsung, Finland’s Nokia and China’s Xiaomi and Vivo. Other firms planned to join them, including Realme and Oppo.
Talaat told the Saudi Al-Arabiya news TV last month that Egypt has set a target to triple cell phone production to nearly 9 million devices in 2026 from 3 million in 2024.
In a social media post in early 2025 the communications ministry said it would impose a tax of 38 percent on imported phones.
Officials have said the tax is also part of a strategy to lower imports and increase exports to tackle a persistent trade deficit.
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