HELSINKI: Finland’s government investment arm Solidium has acquired a 3.3 percent stake in Nokia at a cost of about €844 million to strengthen Finnish influence over the telecom network gear maker.
“We believe that this will be a good investment. One must remember that Nokia is Finland’s largest company and its Finnish ownership has been rather thin,” Solidium CEO Antti Makinen said.
He said Solidium was not seeking a seat on Nokia’s board at an upcoming shareholder meeting but that it could look at that option going forward.
He noted that Solidium has this year taken a more active role in the boardrooms of the companies it owns stakes in.
Nokia ruled the global mobile phone market a decade ago and was a dominant economic engine for the country, providing 4 percent of its GDP and 20 percent of its exports.
The collapse of Nokia’s former phone business was a major reason for Finland’s decade of stagnation from which it is only just recovering.
According to Nokia’s webpage, three Finnish pension funds at this point own less than 3 percent of Nokia.
Nokia is nowadays focused on the telecom network industry where it competes with Sweden’s Ericsson and China’s Huawei.
“The appealing factors for us are the company’s strong market position combined with broad technological expertise,” Makinen said.
Solidium’s mandate is to own significant Finnish companies with an idea to keep them “more or less Finnish,” Makinen said in an interview last month.
Solidium manages minority holdings in 13 listed Finnish companies which mainly originate from an era of state-led industrialization.
Solidium trimmed its stake in Telia and Sampo in the past weeks to finance the investment in Nokia.
Finland takes stake in Nokia to boost national ownership
Finland takes stake in Nokia to boost national ownership
Saudi Arabia ranks 2nd globally in digital government, World Bank 2025 index shows
WASHINGTON: Saudi Arabia has achieved a historic milestone by securing second place worldwide in the 2025 GovTech Maturity Index released by the World Bank.
The announcement was made on Thursday during a press conference in Washington, DC, which evaluated 197 countries.
The Kingdom excelled across all sub-indicators, earning a 99.64 percent overall score and placing it in the “Very Advanced” category.
It achieved a score of 99.92 percent in the Core Government Systems Index, 99.90 percent in the Public Service Delivery Index, 99.30 percent in the Digital Citizen Engagement Index, and 99.50 percent in the Government Digital Transformation Enablers Index, reflecting some of the highest global scores.
This includes outstanding performance in digital infrastructure, core government systems, digital service delivery, and citizen engagement, among the highest globally.
Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Suwaiyan, governor of the Digital Government Authority, attributed this achievement to the unwavering support of the Saudi leadership, strong intergovernmental collaboration, and effective public-private partnerships.
He highlighted national efforts over recent years to re-engineer government services and build an advanced digital infrastructure, which enabled Saudi Arabia to reach this global standing.
Al-Suwaiyan emphasized that the Digital Government Authority continues to drive innovation and enhance the quality of digital services, in line with Saudi Vision 2030, supporting the national economy and consolidating the Kingdom’s transformation goals.
The 2025 GTMI data reflects Saudi Arabia’s excellence across key areas, including near-perfect scores in core government systems, public service delivery, digital citizen engagement, and government digital transformation enablers. This balanced performance places the Kingdom firmly in the “Grade A” classification for very advanced countries, demonstrating the maturity of its digital government ecosystem.
Saudi Arabia’s progress in the index has been remarkable: from 49th place in the 2020 edition, to third in 2022, and now second in 2025, confirming its status as a global leader in digital transformation and innovation.
The achievement also reflects the Kingdom’s focus on putting people at the center of digital transformation, enhancing user experience, improving government efficiency, and integrating artificial intelligence and emerging technologies across public services.
