Egypt Explores Expansion of Nokia Phone Manufacturing and Exports with HMD Global During Finnish President’s Visit
On the sidelines of the Finnish President’s official visit to Egypt, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Eng. Raafat Hindi held a high-level meeting with Jean-François Baril, Co-founder and CEO of HMD Global, to discuss the company’s plans to expand mobile phone manufacturing in Egypt and boost exports to regional markets.
The meeting was attended by Jarno Syrjälä, Finland’s Under-Secretary of State for International Trade, Tapio Naula, Commercial Counsellor at the Finnish Embassy in Cairo, Eng. Ahmed El Zaher, CEO of Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), alongside senior officials from Egypt’s telecom regulator and representatives from the company, including regional and local executives.
During the discussions, HMD Global officials reviewed the progress of their local manufacturing operations, which began in 2023, highlighting ongoing collaboration with SICO at its facility in the Assiut Technology Park.
The meeting also addressed the company’s plans to initiate exports to North African markets in the near term, as well as strategies to accelerate access to broader regional markets across Africa and Europe. Both sides explored opportunities to deepen local value addition by developing feeder industries and attracting component suppliers to Egypt, strengthening domestic value chains and enhancing the global competitiveness of Egyptian-made products.
HMD Global currently manufactures around 12 models in Egypt and expects total production to reach approximately two million mobile phones in 2026, including both feature phones and smartphones. This growth is driven by the company’s increasing focus on smartphone production and its strategy to expand local manufacturing and export capacity.
Eng. Raafat Hindi reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to positioning Egypt as a regional hub for mobile phone manufacturing, as part of broader efforts to localize the electronics industry and support the digital economy. He emphasized that the expansion of global companies’ manufacturing activities in Egypt represents a key step toward increasing local value addition and strengthening the competitiveness of Egyptian products in regional and international markets.
He also highlighted the government’s focus on creating an enabling investment environment that supports industrial expansion and enhances export capabilities, stressing the importance of partnerships between international and local companies in facilitating technology transfer and capacity building.
For his part, Jean-François Baril outlined HMD Global’s expansion plans for 2026–2027, which include a gradual shift toward producing 4G devices and increasing the share of smartphones in its product portfolio. He noted that Egypt represents a strategic hub for the company’s regional operations, citing its competitive advantages, including a strategic geographic location and a skilled workforce.
Baril added that the company aims to position Egypt as a key export base for Africa and other markets, while continuing to develop innovative solutions that enable the delivery of digital services across both smartphones and feature phones.