NTRA confirms mobile import exemptions still in place: The National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has confirmed that returning travelers are still entitled to bring one mobile phone into Egypt exempt from import fees every three years, despite recent rumors suggesting the exemption had been suspended, the authority said in a statement (pdf). The authority said the exemption remains in place during the trial phase of its mobile phone governance system, which launched earlier this year.

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CONTEXT- A number of buyers complained that they had received notifications of unpaid fees on phones imported prior to the decision’s implementation, while others received the notifications despite believing that their devices are exempt from the fees. This caused confusion and prompted some buyers to demand refunds from local sellers, many of whom had sourced devices through the grey market.

By the numbers: NTRA said it had only suspended 60k of the 650k devices that received exemptions since January, citing what it said was suspected fraud. Of these, 13k were confirmed to have violated regulations and will remain blocked. Another 47k were verified as legitimate and have since been reactivated.

Gov’t is tightening the system to clamp down on abuse — but it says it’s not applying fees retroactively: A government source in the telecom sector told EnterpriseAM that the mobile phone import duty system is currently under review after authorities found instances of abuse — particularly cases of phones brought in by Egyptian expats for commercial resale. The source stressed that fees are not being applied retroactively, but some users received unexpected tax notifications because the devices they bought locally were brought into the country under the pretense that they were for personal use to evade fees.

Exemptions to be tightened, not canceled: The source told us that the government is now looking to tighten up criteria for exemptions more strictly to prevent abuse by grey market importers and retailers while preserving fair access for individual users.

REMEMBER- Imported mobile phones are subject to customs and taxes totaling 38.5% — including a 5% industry development fee — as the government looks to grow the domestic mobile phone assembly industry. The levies were introduced late 2024 and apply only to new mobile phones imported and activated starting 2025.

Local assembly surges as grey market squeezed: The fees on grey market phone imports are already pushing more customers toward locally assembled devices. A senior government source told EnterpriseAM that Egypt’s five mobile assemblers doubled their production in 1Q 2025, turning out 110k phones, of which 80k were exported. New batches are being offered at price points that better match local incomes to curb demand for grey-market imports.

iPhone at the heart of the pricing mismatch: A member of the Chamber of Commerce’s mobile division told EnterpriseAM that Apple’s iPhones are one of the main reasons behind the surge in mobile phones imported through unofficial channels: iPhones are significantly more expensive in Egypt than they are abroad. The iPhone 16 starts at EGP 55.5k in Egypt and the iPhone 16 Pro starts at EGP 73.3k. The same devices in the United States retail for USD 799 (EGP 39.1k) and USD 999 (EGP 48.9k), respectively.

The gov’t is working to change that: The government is in talks with Apple in a bid to convince the tech giant to assemble in Egypt, the source tells us.

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