With Samsung’s announcement of establishing a mobile factory in Beni Suef on an area of 6,000 square meters, Egypt’s chances of becoming a manufacturing base for mobile phones in the African market are increasing, officials in the mobile market told Daily News Egypt.
Karim Ghoneim, Head of the Digital Economy Division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, said that Egypt is taking strong steps towards localizing the information technology industry in Egypt.
He added that Samsung’s announcement of setting up a mobile factory in Egypt is a serious step in this regard, and will have a positive impact on the Egyptian market in the medium and long term.
Ghoneim believes that the consumer will feel the impact of local manufacturing on the prices of products from mobile devices, with the stability of the exchange rate and the provision of a minimum local demand for mobile devices.
He added that Egypt has all the appropriate ingredients to become a manufacturing and exporting base for mobile phones on the African continent, thanks to free trade agreements with a number of African and Arab countries.
He explained that Egypt has a number of other advantages that enhance its strength as a manufacturing base represented in the availability of labor at competitive prices and the availability of various energy sources and logistical services.
On the other hand, a source in the mobile market revealed the announcement within several days of manufacturing a new brand for its mobile devices in Egypt, refusing to disclose details at the present time, stressing at the same time that it is a large company at the regional level.
Mohamed Al-Mahdi, former agent of the Mobile Division of the General Federation of Chambers of Commerce, believes that Samsung’s announcement of establishing a factory for mobile devices in Egypt will have a positive impact on the mobile market in Egypt.
Al-Mahdi said that the presence of more than one local factory will support the decline in the prices of mobile devices and increase Egypt’s export opportunities, provided that the exchange rate is stable, given that manufacturers import phone components.
He explained that the presence of more than one mobile factory will support the transformation of Egypt into a regional manufacturing base and the emergence of industries that feed mobile phones, which supports the completion of the surrounding environment for the industry.
Last week, Samsung announced the establishment of a factory for mobile devices on an area of 6,000 square meters in Beni Suef, while the Chinese company, Infinix, manufactures SMART and HOT series phones on the company’s production lines at the Sico factory in Assiut, which represents about 80% of Infinix’s sales in the Egyptian market.
Samsung also established a factory for tablet computers in its industrial complex in Beni Suef, with investments estimated at EGP 500m.
Also, Oppo announced last year that it had signed an agreement with the Ministry of Communications to establish a mobile factory in Egypt, as well as the Chinese company Vivo, while Nokia is working to manufacture a group of its smart devices in the Egyptian market in cooperation with Etisal.
Infinix had announced the launch of its new Infinix smart 7 phone in the Egyptian market at a competitive price, under the slogan “Made in Egypt.” The Infinix smart 7 is the third phone that Infinix manufactures through its production lines in Egypt during the first half of this year, to join a series of distinguished smartphones that the company has produced in Egypt since the beginning of the year.
The company has manufactured two phones through its production lines in Egypt since the beginning of the year, which are HOT 12i and HOT 20i.
