FEATURE: AFRICA @ GITEX
ITIDA has been sponsoring the participation of
Egyptian companies in GITEX Technology Week
for 11 consecutive years
EGP 52 billion in 2014 to EGP 70.2
billion by 2020 and create up to
300,000 direct and indirect job
opportunities within the next few
years. The GCC’s rapid expansion
complements Egypt’s ICT sector
which is preparing to record a growth
rate, coming largely from IT services
and software packages that will see
a compound annual growth rate of
about 9% by 2019.
Egyptian start-ups attracted large
numbers of visitors, drawing the
interest of 130 elite investors as
well as regional and international
business persons to discuss
strategic partnerships and contract
opportunities, during GITEX 2016. The
outcome was the signing of a number
of acquisition agreements and capital
raising leads with the eight Egyptian
companies participating under the
umbrella of ITIDA.
During GITEX 2016, the first
announcement made at ITIDA’s
pavilion was by technology solutions
company OGTech, who announced
their expansions in the GCC market
and opening of a new branch in
Dubai to offer services to clients
www.intelligentcio.com
Egyptian start-ups attracted large numbers of visitors
while drawing the interest of 130 elite investors during
GITEX 2016
in the UAE from both public and
private sectors, following the success
of its first regional branch in Qatar.
Nilecode, an Egyptian software design
and development firm, entered into
a strategic partnership with the Al
Quiyadia Saudi Group of companies
with branches in Egypt, Dubai and
Saudi Arabia, to establish Integrated
Development Company with a
business volume estimated to be
around SAR 50 million.
Also during GITEX 2016, ITIDA officials
met a high-level delegation from the Irish
company Davra Networks to shed light
on the competitive advantages of Egypt
in the field of ICT as well as highlighting
incentives provided to encourage foreign
investments into the local market.
Investment and business opportunities
offered by the Egyptian IT sector as
well as cooperative, partnership and
investment prospects in the projects of
the new technology parks were discussed
as well and Davra Networks’ delegates
expressed their desire to initiate fruitful
joint ventures with ITIDA that meet the
aspirations of both sides.
ITIDA officials also met representatives
from EMC, a leading provider of
IT storage hardware solutions,
who reiterated their intention for
cooperation in providing cutting-edge
technological platforms for free to
encourage Egyptian entrepreneurs
to participate in Egypt’s Innovation
Clusters’ initiative. IBM agreed
that the company will eye new
opportunities in the local market by
expanding its centre of excellence in
Cairo to one of the new technology
parks, in addition to availing its
Bluemix platform for free to the
Egyptian entrepreneurs and tech
start-ups.
Emaratech, a leading Dubai-
based technology and consulting
company, expressed its interest in
establishing a call centre in Egypt in
coordination with ITIDA to serve its
customers from international banks.
The meeting with officials from
Oracle Corporation resulted in the
establishment of a regional centre for
cloud computing in one of Egypt’s
new Tech Parks to explore further
expansion opportunities. There was
an agreement with Belgium-based
Oddo, a suite of open-source business
apps, to train Egyptians in providing
technical support services as well as
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