Egypt plans €100m smartphone recycling centre

Reurters/Luc Gnago

• Expat Egyptian behind project
• ‘Hurdles cleared’ for start
• Refurbished market worth $50bn

A €100 million smartphone refurbishment and recycling plant is being planned for the Suez Canal Economic Zone. 

The man leading the project is named by Daily News Egypt as Samuel Mathias, an expatriate Egyptian who is said to be a Paris-based electronics engineer and business owner. 

The newspaper said that Soha Gendi, Egypt’s minister of emigration and Egyptian expatriates affairs, met Mathias this week to discuss the venture.

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The ministry is said to have given the project serious attention. Gendi is reported as saying that coordination with Hossam Haiba, CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, has cleared any hurdles for its start.

The smartphone recycling project is also said to involve collaboration with a “key” global communications technology company from France.

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Gendi said the factory’s investment should pass €100 million within the next two years, thanks to its prime geographical position and abundant resources to enhance its economic impact.

The global refurbished and used mobile phone market is forecast by the research company Statista to grow from $50 billion in 2022 to $172 billion by 2033 at a compound annual growth rate of 11.9 percent.