Egypt Targets 250 AI Start-Ups and Up to Seven AI Data Centres by 2030

Egypt plans to support 250 artificial intelligence start-ups and create 200,000 jobs across the information and communications technology sector by 2030, according to the Egyptian Gazette. The commitments were presented by Minister of Communications and Information Technology Raafat Hindy during the opening of the 30th Cairo ICT conference, which was inaugurated in New Cairo alongside Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.

The roadmap forms part of the ministry's efforts to implement the Digital Egypt strategy, which Hindy said aims to strengthen digital sovereignty and support economic growth. According to Hindy, the government also intends to attract between five and seven dedicated AI data centres, deploy fifth-generation mobile services across all governorates, and extend fibre-optic connectivity to cover 55 percent of the country. Furthermore, the authorities are targeting the domestic production of 30 million mobile handsets by 2030, with roughly 30 percent intended for export markets.

Under the broader economic projections outlined by the ministry, Egypt intends to lift its annual digital exports to $12 billion by 2030 while raising the ICT sector's contribution to national gross domestic product to 8 percent. Hindy also said the government aims to maintain annual ICT sector growth of 16 percent to 19 percent and to make more than 500 government services available through the Digital Egypt platform.

What it means

For emerging economies across the continent, combining start-up incubation with physical computing infrastructure reflects a shift towards capturing tangible domestic value from AI rather than relying entirely on foreign technology providers.