The Ministry of Investments of the United Arab Emirates and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of Egypt have formalized a partnership aimed at supporting Egypt’s digital infrastructure. This MoU opens the possibility of developing a 1 GW data center capacity in Egypt, although a specific timeline has not been specified. According to Dr. Amr Talaat, Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, the initial stage of the MoU will focus on creating an initial capacity of 100 MW in data centers.
In addition, incentives to encourage investment in such projects will be discussed, and both parties will exchange information on projects, explore cooperation in investment research, policies, certifications, research and development, as well as innovation in data center projects. A joint action plan and monitoring mechanisms will also be established to oversee the implementation of the MoU through collaboration between the two parties.
The MoU supports Egypt’s digitization goals in line with the “Digital Egypt” plan and Egypt Vision 2030, which aims to build a strong digital economy through the development of ICT infrastructure and the expansion of the African International Network, as well as the construction of local data centers.
The data center market valuation in Egypt is expected to increase from $490 million in 2022 to $1.1 billion in 2030, according to reports. Egypt’s strategic location, connected by numerous submarine cables, makes it conducive to development in the data center sector. In October 2023, Telecom Egypt and 4iG signed an MoU to implement a new submarine cable connecting Egypt to Albania, and Minister Talaat announced an investment of over $600 million in the development of the Internet submarine cable network.
In May 2023, Khazna Data Centers from the United Arab Emirates announced the construction of a data center in Cairo, Egypt, while GPX Global Systems announced the expansion of its Cairo 2 data center, significantly increasing its IT capacity.
Published by Emirates Herald, a news and information agency.
