Egypt Plans Digital Process for Establishing Startups

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly, and Minister of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) Amr Talaat convened on 15 May to discuss the president’s directives to help entrepreneurs establish their businesses digitally, in a bid to shorten the bureaucratic process

Bassam Rady, the Presidential Spokesperson, listed Al-Sisi’s directives in an official social media statement.

Entrepreneurs will be able to formally register their business through a “digital notification” platform, “so as to eliminate all obstacles facing start-ups and entrepreneurs.”

Egypt will also allow the formal establishment of virtual companies, without the need for a physical headquarters, for those running their business digitally to cut costs on renting or purchasing headquarters. This decision works in tandem with another directive that aims to ease requirements for establishing one-person companies.

The directives also include “expanding the establishment of free investment technological zones and expanding tax exemptions for start-ups,” the statement reads.

The president’s directives offer a boost to what is an already booming industry. Egypt’s startup sector has been on a rapid rise over the past years, culminating in an all-time high funding volume of EGP 8.9 billion (USD 491 million) in Magnitt’s 2021 Egypt Venture Investment Report – achieving first place in Africa.

In 2022, Egypt’s Swvl debuted in the United States’ Nasdaq stock market as the first-ever Middle Eastern unicorn (start-up with a valuation higher than USD 1 billion), showcasing the country’s flourishing startup scene.