The information and communications technology (ICT) sector in Egypt has remained remarkably resilient despite the COVID-19 crisis, achieving a growth rate of 15.2 percent and around EGP 108 billion of revenues in FY2020/2021 — compared to 93 billion in FY2019/2020, CEO of Egypt’s Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) Amr Mahfouz said.

Mahfouz made his comments while participating in the virtual conference of the Global Technology & Business Services Council (GT&BSC), held from 30 November to 1 December, which gathered 12 of the world’s premier global technology and business services associations.

He also revealed that the ICT sector’s contribution to the GDP is about 4.4 percent.

Mahfouz illustrated that the ICT sector in Egypt has played a key role in lessening the impacts of the pandemic, helping avoid service interruption, and hiring talents from impacted sectors like tourism while ensuring the safety of its employees through adopting new business models.

“Egypt has invested heavily in developing its digital capabilities, especially in freelancing and remote-work skills, which has enabled the services sector to remain resilient, meet the unprecedented demand, and increase reliance on digital services in all areas,” Mahfouz underlined.

He added that the resilience demonstrated amid the pandemic augmented Egypt’s global appeal for outsourcing and IT business services investments and encouraged more demand from enterprises to choose Egypt as a technology hub offering outstanding global services.

He also said that ITIDA is extending its support to attract more investments in the coming period, drawing on the pandemic’s constructive experience for the sector in Egypt.

The conference also discussed market insights from a report prepared by Everest Group on the main challenges facing companies in 2021, which included adapting to new business models, slow downs in decision-making, cost pressure, recovery from the pandemic, and talent shortage.

The report expected that cloud computing and cybersecurity services will be top priorities of digital businesses during the next period, pointing out that more than 70 percent of the sector’s companies still expect to exceed or meet the targeted financial prospects of 2020.

The GT&BSC, which ITIDA joined last July as a founding member, is an alliance of twelve international associations representing the technology and business services sector across Bulgaria, the Balkans, Czech Republic, Egypt, Germany, Hungary, India, Malaysia, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, the United States, and Ukraine.