A shopkeeper in Tripoli, Libya, has finally received a shipment of Nokia mobile phones he first ordered back in 2010 — a delivery that arrived more than 16 years late.
The consignment, which contained classic button-based Nokia models including early “Communicator” devices and music-edition phones, never reached the store when it was originally purchased. It was delayed just as the country slid into civil war in 2011.
Despite the sender and receiver being located only a few kilometres apart in Tripoli, the phones were stranded in warehouses as Libya plunged into political chaos and logistics infrastructure collapsed.
A video showing the businessman opening the long-lost delivery has gone viral across social media. In the clip, he and his friends laugh while unpacking the boxes, jokingly asking whether the phones are “mobile phones or artefacts” — a nod to how outdated the models now appear.
The shipment included devices that were considered premium technology at the time — but today look like relics from a completely different era of mobile design.
The delay has become the latest example of how years of unrest have affected even simple business operations. Since the fall of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country has remained divided between rival governments — one in Tripoli and another in the east — leaving trade and administration inconsistent and often frozen in place.
What began as an ordinary wholesale purchase has now turned into a global talking point, mixing humour, nostalgia, and a reminder of how conflict can disrupt everyday life.
Some social media users have even suggested the stock of old Nokias could now fetch interest as collector’s items.
