Egypt’s Digital Economy Surges with $7.4B in Export Growth, ICT Boom

Editorial Team

Last updated 23-12-2025

4 min

Egypt’s digital economy has rapidly expanded, more than doubling digital exports since 2018.

The ICT sector is the fastest-growing, now contributing 6% to Egypt's GDP.

Digital Strategy focuses on innovation, services, GDP growth, and job creation, with significant workforce training.

Education improvements include new schools and wider access to technology, enhancing youth skills.

Infrastructure investments boost internet speeds and position Egypt as a crucial data route.

Egypt’s digital economy has been picking up speed in a way that even a few years ago might have felt like wishful thinking. According to comments shared by Communications and IT Minister Amr Talaat during a recent American Chamber of Commerce event, the country’s digital exports climbed to $7.4bn over the past seven years — more than double the $3.3bn figure recorded in 2018. I reckon that kind of leap doesn’t happen by accident; it’s usually the result of many small gears turning at once.

Talaat pointed out that the ICT sector has been the fastest-growing part of Egypt’s economy, with yearly growth hovering between 14% and 16%. Its share of GDP has reached 6%, up from just 3.2% not too long ago. Outsourcing has played a huge role in this shift. Exports from that segment rose from $2.4bn in 2022 to $4.8bn in 2025, while the number of companies working in the space jumped from 90 to 240. That’s no small feat, and believe it or not, more than 270 service delivery centres are now operating across the country.

The minister also walked through Egypt’s Digital Strategy, which rests on four main pillars: boosting digital innovation, improving services for citizens, expanding GDP and exports, and creating jobs. Nothing flashy there, but the execution seems to be moving. Workforce development is a big part of it. The number of ICT trainees shot up from 4,000 in 2018/2019 to 500,000 last year, with an aim to reach 800,000 this fiscal cycle. At Arageek, we often see how talent shortages can be a bit of a faff for young startups, so watching a country invest this heavily in skills feels spot on.

Education has also been getting a refresh. The first cohort from Egypt University of Informatics recently graduated, and WE Schools of Applied Technology have expanded to 27 schools nationwide. Training now comes in all shapes and sizes — in-person, online, or blended — with platforms like MaharaTech helping widen access. I remember visiting a similar programme in another MENA city a few years ago, and honestly… it struck me how a single well-designed platform can shift young people’s confidence almost overnight.

On the flip side, Talaat didn’t skip over artificial intelligence. Egypt’s National AI Strategy, first announced in 2019 and updated this year, has pushed the country up 46 places in the Government AI Readiness Index. AI applications are already being used in healthcare and judicial services, which always sounds simple on paper but is often a real challange to implement in practice.

There were also updates on Egypt’s growing status as an outsourcing hub, with new agreements expected to generate around 75,000 jobs over the next three years. In manufacturing, 15 local and global companies are now producing mobile phones in the country, with local value-added reaching 40% and production capacity heading toward 10 million units next year.

And then there’s the infrastructure story — an easy one to overlook, though it quietly shapes everything else. Egypt has poured about $6bn into digital infrastructure since 2019. Average fixed internet speeds have reached 91.3 Mbps, which Talaat noted places Egypt first globally. The country also continues to serve as a key pathway for global data, carrying more than 90% of traffic between Asia and Europe through its submarine cable routes.

All in all, the momentum seems real. And as someone who spends a lot of time talking with founders and teams trying to build things across the region, I’d say the direction Egypt is taking — while not perfect — gives many of them a bit more room to breathe, explore, and grow.

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