Egypt’s Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) and the company Plug and Play have inked an agreement to establish a strategic partnership boosting Egypt’s entrepreneurship and startup ecosystem, ITIDA announced on Thursday.
The agreement was signed by ITIDA CEO Amr Mahfouz and Plug and Play CEO and Founder Saeed Amidi, in the presence of Minister of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) Amr Talaa.
The three-year agreement comprises launching an innovation platform for startups in Cairo focusing on digital transformation, and a program for accelerating 60 growth-stage startups and incubating 60 early-stage startups. The agreement eyes to attract $20 million of investments in the beneficiary technology startups while creating 500 job opportunities.
It also aims to create a vibrant startup community at the Creativa Innovation Hub in Sultan Hussein Kamel Palace in Cairo and cement Egypt as the premier centre for innovation-driven entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
“We’re keen to promote entrepreneurship and foster tech- and innovation-driven projects. MCIT endeavours to create an enabling environment for the growth of startups as part of the plan of building Digital Egypt and in light of Egypt’s successes and progress in this field at the regional and global levels,” said Talaat.
Talaat added that the agreement would reinforce his ministry’s efforts in advancing entrepreneurship through partnering with one of the major companies specializing in startup incubation and acceleration. In addition, he said that MCIT is establishing Creativa Innovation Hubs nationwide to promote entrepreneurship and empower university students and entrepreneurs through developing their innovation skills and supporting their information and communication technology (ICT) projects.
ITIDA’s CEO emphasized that Plug and Play is one of the world’s leaders in managing innovation hubs, adding that the company’s presence in Egypt will add value to the startup ecosystem, thus positively reflecting on regional and international reports.
