Egypt.. Launching a new system to encourage and localize the mobile phone industry

The Ministries of Finance and Communications in Egypt announced in a joint statement the launch of a new electronic system to register imported mobile phones, aiming to strengthen governance, encourage and localize the phone industry in the country, and confront what they said were illegal practices in the telecommunications market.

The electronic system allows citizens to register imported phones through the new “Talifouni” application without referring to customs officials, and to inquire about the value of the fees due and pay them online.

The statement stated that the system aims to ensure fair competition and “support efforts to provide locally-made mobile phones with high quality and competitive prices that encourage export, taking into account that a large number of international companies have begun manufacturing mobile phones of various types in the Egyptian market.”

In response to a question about the new system, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said in the council’s weekly press conference on Wednesday, “We have five international companies that came and opened mobile phone production factories in Egypt. These companies complain about… smuggling.”

Madbouly added, “The volume of devices that enter (smuggled) is in large numbers… Many countries have resorted to the same thing that we have resorted to, in order to control this market and at the same time encourage the local industry to grow.”

The statement of the Ministries of Finance and Communications explained that the customs duties and taxes on imported mobile phones “are as they are and have not changed, and that every citizen coming from abroad has an exempt mobile phone for personal use for a transitional period of three months.”

He added, “The new system applies to new mobile phones imported from abroad and does not apply to existing mobile phones that were previously purchased from the local market or from abroad and were activated before January 1, 2025, as this system is not applied retroactively.”

Madbouly said in the press conference that the new system will not oblige Egyptians residing abroad to pay any fees when they are in Egypt for a temporary period to spend vacations.

The statement of the Ministries of Finance and Communications stated that the new system “also contributes to protecting citizens from smuggled, counterfeit and non-compliant mobile phones by allowing electronic inquiries about the original device codes via a phone application.”