Naguib Sawiris, the Egyptian telecommunications tycoon, is no stranger to controversy and always seems to have an eye on the next opportunity.

Often he is looking where few others would dare, and today the chairman of Orascom Telecom, a leading emerging markets mobile phone operator, is thinking about the possibilities in Cuba. That follows the decision by Raúl Castro, Cuba’s new president, to lift a ban on the sale of computers, microwaves and – crucially for the Egyptian businessman – mobile phones.