Opportunities for German Investments
“Egypt’s ICT sector has been growing consistently at 16 percent”
“The ICT sector has been growing consistently over the last three years with a growth rate of 16 percent and is the fastest-growing sector in Egypt”, stated the Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology, H.E. Dr. Amr Talaat, during the Online Reception on Egypt’s ICT sector on February 24, 2022. Around 50 international guests attended this virtual event which was organized by the EMA in cooperation with the Egyptian embassy in Berlin.
Cultivating, expanding, and strengthening digital skills as Egypt’s strategy for the next years
In their words of welcome and introduction, Dr. Stephan Jäger, long-time treasurer of the EMA, and Clara Gruitrooy, Secretary General of the EMA, expressed their appreciation for Egypt’s growing ICT sector. Then, it was on H.E. Dr. Amr Talaat to present Egypt’s three-pillar strategy for the ICT sector of cultivating, expanding, and strengthening digital skills throughout the country. Besides cultivating talent for IT and IT-enabled segments to serve local and global markets through tailored education programs, Egypt’s focus for the next years is on fostering digital innovation.
H.E. introduced the Knowledge City as Egypt’s main technology hub, consisting of training institutes, innovation and applied research center, the assistive tech center, and the Egypt University of Informatics. Moreover, digital transformation is part of all governmental areas, especially in G2C services, incorporating several projects such as the Digital Egypt Portal, digitizing Egypt’s Post, and the Decent Life for All initiative.
ICT sector: doubled investments and consistent growth in national GDP contribution
Apart from that, H.E. gave some impressive insights into the numbers of Egypt’s ICT sector. Not only has Egypt doubled the number of year-on-year investments in the IT start-up scene in 2021, but also has the sector seen consistent growth in the contribution to the national GDP, rising to five percent this year.
More women involvement, investment opportunities in Egypt’s new smart cities, and 5G infrastructures
After the Minister’s presentation, a Q&A session was opened to the audience. Topics of particular interest were the engagement of women in the sector, smart cities in Egypt, and the status of 5G infrastructures, especially in Egypt’s seaports. His Excellency highlighted the importance of women for the ICT sector in Egypt and approved the government’s efforts of making women’s advancement a top priority.
Additionally, Egypt is currently building 17 new smart cities across the country, exploiting smart and environmentally friendly solutions. In this aspect, a particular focus is on green vehicles such as electric cars and e-bikes, and any cooperation in this area is highly welcomed by the ICT ministry. Another important topic is to implement 5G over the next few years in Egypt, in which the Minister expressed his interest in cooperation with German companies.
Egypt aims at becoming an entry point and hub for German investments
During the second part of the reception, Eng. Amr Mahfouz, CEO of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) as the executive arm of the MCIT, presented some detailed insights into the agency and its strategy for the next five years. Targeted areas of the agency are marketing and sales, ecosystem development, and talent development. Together with the MCIT, ITIDA aims at providing all-around investor support to make Egypt a strong entry point and hub for Germany and other countries of the region.
In this regard, Mr. Mahfouz pointed to the various investment opportunities for German companies in Egypt, particularly in the industry, ICT, and agriculture sectors. Moreover, he highlighted software and hardware as specific services from Germany that Egypt would like to further concentrate on.
The event was concluded by the possibility to join breakout sessions and further discuss opportunities in the Egyptian ICT sector. Following up on the event, three-fourths of the participants expressed their increased interest in doing business with Egypt while all of them were extremely satisfied with the “convincing” presentations.