Egypt Secures 3rd Place in Offshore BPO Confidence Index 2023

Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat announced that Egypt has won the third place, up from 11th in one year, on the Offshore BPO Confidence Index 2023, as assessed by Ryan Strategic Advisory, one of the world’s leading experts in customer experience (CX) and business process outsourcing (BPO).

This milestone is the culmination of diligent and continuous efforts to enhance Egypt’s competitiveness in the BPO and offshoring industry and boost digital services exports, the minister said while addressing a forum held within the framework of the "Wazeefa Tech" initiative.

Launched by the Ministry of Communications, Wazeefa Tech aims to enhance the ICT sector with a proficient workforce, generate employment prospects for the youth, and streamline their integration into the job market within promising technology domains.

These domains encompass the development of mobile applications, web development, information security, embedded systems, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and other sought-after specializations.

Minister Talaat highlighted that Egypt moved up eight spots on the Index in one year, indicating the expansion of the outsourcing industry and the commitment of leading IT offshoring companies to invest in the country.

He further stated that agreements were concluded with major international and local companies to establish delivery centers in Egypt to serve their global customer base.

The forum was attended by the chairwoman of the Information Technology Institute (ITI) Heba Saleh, the Director of the National Telecommunication Institute (NTI) Ahmed Khattab, and representatives of Wazeefa Tech’s partners, including Nasser Social Bank (NSB) and training and employment providers, as well as new partners. Success stories of the initiative’s graduates were presented during the forum.

Talaat said that ICT has been the fastest-growing state sector for five consecutive years, attributing this achievement to the dedicated efforts of the sector's workforce.

He emphasized that the ICT sector goes beyond providing services such as building the digital infrastructure and devising digital solutions to enhance the performance of institutions.

Currently, the sector holds a central position in the national strategy as a key source of production and export, Talaat said, highlighting that the volume of digital exports in Egypt has hit $4.9 billion.

As part of the Digital Egypt Strategy for Offshoring Industry, the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) is actively striving to enhance the export volume of IT and tech-enabled products and services, said the the minister.

Simultaneously, efforts are being made to augment the count of freelancers and specialists in the BPO industry. The set goal is to achieve a milestone of 550,000 specialists and $9 billion in digital services exports by the year 2026.

Talaat highlighted that within MCIT strategy, strengthening digital capacity is a key focus.

The objective is to equip young individuals from diverse academic backgrounds with the necessary qualifications and bolster their competitiveness in the job market, recognizing that the ICT sector now extends beyond IT graduates.

He emphasized that the Egyptian ICT sector stands out for its abundance of creative and industrious young talents, underlining the sector's distinctive feature of generating added value.

Digital capacity building programs, stated the ICT Minister, aim to prepare the youth for the execution of nationwide digitization projects and to create a talent pool for employment in IT offshoring centers. Talaat explained that MCIT carried out programs to incentivize companies to operate remotely from various governorates.

He pointed out that the Ministry's initiatives are designed to qualify young individuals for participation in the freelancing marketplace, aligning with the evolving trends of the new normal and the global shift towards remote work.

Meanwhile, Saleh highlighted the crucial role played by the Wazeefa Tech initiative in cultivating the technological skills of young individuals and facilitating their entry into the job market.

She remarked that the employment rate for graduates of the initiative currently stands at 95%. Saleh noted the expansion in the number of partners in the initiative, allowing for specialization diversity and creating additional opportunities for young individuals from different academic backgrounds.

NTI Director highlighted that Wazeefa Tech has successfully delivered training to young individuals in 18 governorates, with the participant numbers expected to grow.

He expressed gratitude to Nasser Social Bank for providing numerous facilitations, easing the process for young Egyptians to join the initiative. Khattab also extended thanks to the initiative's partners, providers of training and employment services.

The ICT Minister engaged in a candid conversation with graduates and partners of Wazeefa Tech.

The companies’ representatives commended the initiative and its outcomes in sought-after specializations within the job market in Egypt and the Middle East.

This served as motivation for companies to broaden their footprint in Egypt.

The graduates of the initiative lauded the exceptional training and hands-on experiences provided by experts.

These experiences equipped them with the qualifications needed to secure distinguished job opportunities.