Mapei around the World
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12/3/2025
Mapei in Egypt: building to last
International quality and local production to conquer a market of 120 million people
Mapei is expanding its footprint in Egypt’s growing market of 120 million people by opening a new local manufacturing facility for chemical products for building. Despite bureaucratic and economic challenges, the Group successfully established a high-tech plant designed to serve both domestic and regional African markets. This strategic move prioritizes long-term value, emphasizing product quality, durability, and technical expertise over simple price competition to ensure lasting infrastructure.
The pyramids of Giza have towered over the Egyptian desert for 4,500 years. They are the only wonder of the ancient world that has survived the test of time: a masterpiece of grandeur and geometric precision that can still be admired by anybody who happens to be passing through the governorate of Giza. Works of ingenuity and cutting-edge technologies that still leave us open-mouthed in amazement and spark our imagination. Meanwhile, the sprawling metropolis of Cairo stands over on the other side of the Nile: a massive city with a population of over 23 million, one of the largest in the world. A melting pot of traffic, trade and energy that fits the profile of a country with a rapidly expanding population (almost 120 million people) and a huge internal market: illustrated, for example, by the Confindustria Ceramica's (Federation of Italian Ceramic Manufacturers) estimate that over twice as many tiles are sold in Egypt as in Italy.
The construction market in Egypt is driven by strong urbanisation: metropolises such as Cairo are expanding, while the government is investing in the construction of new cities. The Mapei Group intends to exploit these opportunities.
An established presence to be expanded
Building to last. That is what the pyramids teach us; it is also the policy Mapei adopted a few years ago when it decided to launch its core business on the Egyptian market: chemical products for the building industry. A carefully thought-out decision as part of a long-term industrial investment strategy based on a principle as simple as it is ambitious: quality as the bedrock on which the Group has built its corporate philosophy. An approach to business enshrined in the pillars underpinning the Mapei Group’s growth strategy: specialisation, Research & Development, and sustainability.
Egypt is not a mysterious land for Mapei. The Group has been operating in the country for over twenty years through its subsidiary Vinavil, which has a manufacturing plant in Suez and has made its mark as one of the leading local manufacturers of polymers: an industrial base that supplies the domestic market and exports to various countries in the Middle East and Africa.
It has now decided to continue along this familiar path and extend its operations from basic chemical products to a full range of solutions for the building industry.
The Vinavil Egypt manufacturing plant is located in Attaqa, near Suez.
Strategic needs and challenges along the way
Local manufacturing is vital for anybody focused on becoming a key player. It is, in fact, a prerequisite. It is the only way to operate swiftly, gain a competitive edge, and supply business partners with ideal products for their specific needs. This is when the word 'quality' stops being a slogan and becomes part of a process: modern plants, international standards, control of raw materials, and continuous training right along the supply chain. But it has not always been plain sailing. Egyptian bureaucracy called for patience and local expertise to find and secure the ideal site: we managed to navigate these ‘choppy waters’ with the help of the GAFI (General Authority for Investment and Free Zones), the government agency in charge of attracting foreign investment that helped us every step along the way. Then the pandemic struck, slowing down inspections, planning work and supply operations. Once things eventually got started, supply chain management ran up against the devaluation of the Egyptian pound, complicating local contracts and access to the foreign currency required to get equipment supplied from abroad. It is at times like this that the difference between tactical investment and long-term vision emerges: no backing down, a solid financial structure, and carefully set goals focused beyond the next business quarter.
We achieved our goal with the opening of a facility designed to set the gold standard for the Egyptian market: cutting-edge technologies, certifiable processes, and customised lines for key products - i.e. adhesives and grouts for ceramic tiles and stone; waterproofing systems; materials for repairing/protecting concrete and self-levelling compounds, as well as admixtures for concrete and aids for grinding cement – featuring formulas always up to international standards. Not just a simple manufacturingting plant, a platform: Mapei intends to operate from here to serve not only Egypt but also neighbouring markets in North Africa, the Levant, and Central Africa, leveraging regional free trade agreements such as COMESA, the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa, one of Africa’s main regional economic organisations.
The new Mapei Egypt plant, operational since December 2024, is located in the 10th of Ramadan City, approximately 46 km north-east of Cairo.
The quality strategy
When price competition is fierce, focusing on quality may seem like a counterintuitive policy, but that is exactly how Mapei operates: durability, performance, on-site technical assistance, training for designers and installers, and an efficiently served distribution network. It means avoiding mistakes, limiting the need for reconstruction operations, and extending the life cycle of its works. It gives building companies a competitive edge and added value for the people who live, work, provide care or study in these places.
If we take the manufacturing plant as the hardware, then the software is the local team. We are constantly on the lookout for professionals capable of embracing this philosophy, managing regulations, materials and installation methods and putting forward just the right ideas for each and every building project from major infrastructure to minor renovations.
This is how Mapei gained its reputation as a reliable business partner. From Giza’s eternal stones to high-performance mixtures, Egypt teaches us that time and timing is everything when it comes to work. This is the path Mapei took to break onto the Egyptian market: investing today to build lasting value. Quality means more than just positioning when operating on a big, rapidly emerging and constantly moving market: it is a growth strategy, the idea on which all policy is based from design to execution.
A new manufacturing plant for North Africa
Mapei Egypt for Construction Chemicals’ new manufacturing plant is a state-of-the-art facility located near the 10th of Ramadan City that was completed in the latter half of 2024. It covers an area of 30,000 m2 with buildings taking up 8,000 m2 of the site. The facility is used to manufacture powdered products like adhesives and grouts for installing ceramics and stone, self-levelling materials and waterproofing products for substrate preparation, as well as liquid admixtures for concrete and cement additives. The plant has an overall production output of 120,000-175,000 tons-a-year and includes areas allocated for product storage and logistical operations: the warehouse has 7,000 pallet spaces and can store 600,000 liters of admixtures and 800 tons of powdered products.
Thanks also to its strategic location near the country’s main logistical hubs and the highways running from Cairo-Suez and Cairo-Ain Sokhna, the plant will be used more and more to distribute Mapei products to nearby markets in North Africa and some countries in the Middle East: export operations began in April of this year with the shipment of materials to Kenya.
The Mapei Egypt manufacturing plant pays testimony to the Mapei Group's aim of ensuring consistent growth on the Egyptian market in the medium and long term. It also serves as a hub for technological and manufacturing innovation throughout the region.
The importance of this new manufacturing facility was evident on 15th April, the day it was officially inaugurated. An official event attended by Veronica Squinzi, CEO of the Mapei Group, Simona Giorgetta, Member of the Board of Directors, and Bassem Moustafa, General Manager of Mapei Egypt, alongside various representatives from the parent company Mapei S.p.A. and from Mapei Construction Chemicals, the Group’s regional headquarters based in Dubai.
Local authorities in attendance included Michele Quaroni, the Italian Ambassador to Egypt, and Yasser Abbas, Vice President of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), the Egyptian government agency in charge of promoting, regulating, and managing investment in the country. The entire staff of Mapei Egypt, plus numerous clients, business partners and various operators in the building industry, also attended the opening ceremony for a total of 320 guests.
The official opening also featured a ribbon-cutting ceremony performed by Mapei executives, Ambassador Quaroni, Bassem Moustafa , and Yasser Abbas. This was followed by a tour of the facility for all the guests, who were divided into groups and accompanied by Mapei staff. The day concluded with a gala dinner inspired by Egyptian traditions and culture, complete with Egyptian folk dances and a live performance by a local band.
Mapei Egypt plant was inaugurated with Veronica Squinzi, CEO of the Mapei Group, Simona Giorgetta, member of the Board of Directors, Bassem Moustafa , General Manager of Mapei Egypt, Michele Quaroni and Yasser Abbas.
From Cairo to the 10th of Ramadan City: the journey of Mapei Egypt
Mapei Egypt for Construction Chemicals was founded on 7 December 2017 with the aim of strengthening Mapei's presence in North Africa. The Group already had a subsidiary in the country, Vinavil Egypt for Chemicals, with a plant dedicated to the production of polyvinyl acetate and styrene acrylic dispersions.
The opening of a new subsidiary was driven by the Group’s willingness to fully exploit the opportunities offered by the Egyptian market: a rapidly growing market, boosted by government investment in infrastructure and characterised by competition between many different players, including both multinational groups and local companies.
Shortly after its foundation, Mapei Egypt's offices were strategically relocated to New Cairo, together with those of Vinavil Egypt, in an area that is also home to the Egyptian subsidiaries of other large foreign companies and is logistically favoured by its proximity to Cairo International Airport and the roads connecting Cairo to Suez.
The distribution of Mapei solutions in Egypt initially focused on grinding aids for cement and concrete admixtures: technologies capable of revolutionising the local market.
The start of production in December 2024 at the new plant in the 10th of Ramadan City is a turning point for Mapei Egypt, enabling it to manufacture powder-based products such as adhesives and mortars for laying and grouting ceramic tiles and stone and solutions for preparing substrates, as well as liquid admixtures for cement and concrete.
This is a strategic investment to ensure Mapei Egypt's continued success in the Egyptian market: a goal that appears increasingly achievable thanks to the selection of skilled human resources (currently 80 employees, including the Specification Team dedicated to support designers and architects) and the launch of export activities last April.
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12/3/2025
Investing in a growing market
