Egypt targets increasing ICT's contribution to GDP to reach 8% by 2030

CAIRO – 16 July 2024: By 2030, Egypt's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector is expected to contribute 8 percent to the country's GDP, an increase from the current 5.8 percent recorded in the fiscal year 2023/2024. 

 

Minister of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Amr Talaat, emphasized the government's commitment to empowering the private sector through strategic collaborations with international partners.

 

 These partnerships aim to establish submarine cables, attract investments in cloud computing, and promote local mobile phone manufacturing.

 

To ensure a skilled workforce, a comprehensive training program has been launched with the goal of training 500,000 individuals in the fiscal year 2024/2025. 

 

This initiative will further scale up to train 1 million professionals by 2029/2030, strengthening the ICT sector's capabilities. In line with fostering innovation and research, Egypt plans to expand the number of digital innovation centers to 32 by 2026. 

 

The outsourcing industry is also expected to experience substantial growth. The number of specialists in this field is projected to increase from 130,000 in 2023, generating $3.7 billion in digital exports, to 550,000 by 2026, with digital exports reaching $9 billion.

 

Furthermore, the government is dedicated to enhancing the country's digital infrastructure. This includes an expansion of broadband coverage nationwide, the replacement of copper networks with fiber optic cables, and an increase in the number of mobile towers to 50,000 by 2030. 

 

Additionally, the digital Egypt platform will be further developed to provide improved digital services to citizens, including those residing abroad. The Egyptian Post Office network will also undergo modernization efforts.

 

As part of the Haya Karima initiative, 9.3 million buildings will be connected with fiber optic cables, 1,741 post offices will be upgraded, and 1,981 mobile towers will be established or upgraded. In addition, digital literacy programs will be promoted among 500,000 citizens, contributing to the overall development of Egypt's digital landscape.