Egyptian Chamber of Commerce Joins Forces with Microsoft to Fuel Digital Transformation

Egypt’s Minister of Public Business Sector Hesham Tawfik has laid the groundwork for the launch of the ‘Digital Future’ initiative, a government-backed programme that aims to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt with migrating their services and operations online.

The initiative will be led by the Federation of Egyptian Chamber of Commerce, and  co-chaired by tech giant Microsoft, the Ministry of Public Business Sector and Fiber Misr Systems. Egypt’s SMEs and startups have made great strides in the first half of 2020. According to MAGNiTT, the country has ranked first in MENA with the most number of startup deals. The thriving sector accounts for 25% of the total number of deals in MENA in H1 2020. 

The Digital Future initiative will fall in line with the government’s efforts to unite public and private sector influence to provide SMEs with the necessary platforms, resources and industry know-how to lead their digital transformations. 

Perks will include access to cutting-edge technologies at affordable prices, providing the top softwares and programs in collaboration with Microsoft and seamless integration into the ecosystem by Fiber Misr, as well as technical support.

Tawfik points out that the initiative will involve four main pillars: first is prioritising the preparation and review of digital policies and procedures that would accommodate and fully support the digital transformation. Second is applying corporate resource planning and management programmes (with investments up to $50 million for acquiring the licenses and services for said programmes). Third is establishing a state-of-the-art dedicated data center and technical support hub while training candidates to lead these hubs in service of the entrepreneurs and founders that will take part in Digital Future.