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Egypt’s Position in Technology and Information Led GlobalizationMuch of the business sector in Egyptconsists of micro to small units with smallcapital investments. Capital usually is lessthan the cost of ownership of a computer.Further, the dominance of informalenterprises in the business community doesnot create an environment conducive for ITto flourish in Egypt. IT entails the recordingof each transaction, which is frequentlyBox (5.3)Structure of IT Enterprises in Egyptavoided in the informal sector, to dodge socialsecurity and tax payments.The business structure in Egypt is shown inthe following table. This shows that more than70 per cent of businesses are micro to smallenterprises that are incapable of bearing thefinancial burden of access to Internet.Changing attitudestowards the paymentmechanism is a majorrequirement forE-Commerce toexpand.Table (5.6)Egypt: Distribution of IT Enterprises by CapitalCapital (US$)*< 425425 - 42604260 - 14.20414.204 - 284.090> 284.090TotalNo. ofEnterprices**(thousand)1.1183478249.610.21.606.8Percentage70.820.74.93.00.6100.0* The Official Exhange rate used = 3.52 LE/US$,November 23, 2000.** In addition to the total number of Workingenterprises, there are also 301 thousand branchesof these enterprises.adversely affects E-Commerce. The numberof “plastic” cardholders in Egypt is about300,000, who use credit cards mainly fortransactions and payments abroad. Althoughthe number of points of sale accepting cardsis quite large, a number of businesses stillprefer to receive cash payments. Thus,changing attitudes towards the paymentmechanism is a major requirement forE-Commerce to expand.Literate / Illiterate DivideEducation is a decisive factor in determiningthe ability of a person to absorb the newtechnologies. The illiteracy rate in Egypt isa little above 39 per cent of the totalpopulation, which means that more thanone-third of Egyptians are neither able noreducationally prepared to understand InformationTechnology. It is obvious that the higher theilliteracy rate in a given country, the lessviable it is to receive, understand and blendin with the new Global Information System.Table (5.5) shows illiteracy levels bygovernorate in Egypt for the year 1998.There is a wide variation from onegovernorate to another. These figures caneasily be related to the figures of Internetusers in Egypt, where the number ofilliterates is inversely proportional to thenumber of Internet users in the same area.In El Menya, for example, the illiteracy rateTable (5.5)Egypt: Illiteracy Rate by Governorate 1998GovernoratesFayoumEl-MenyaBeni-SuefSuhagAssyoutQuenaBeheraKafr-El-SheikhMatrouhSharkiaLuxorDakahliaMenoufiaNorth SinaiKalyoubiaGharbiaGizaAswanDamiettaIsmalilaSouth SinaiNew ValleyAlexandriaCairoSuezRed SeaPort SaidTotalPercentage56.7155.1553.8252.8352.5351.7647.6047.4446.4141.9441.5636.8536.7235.8235.4634.8434.0933.2232.8531.5628.4925.1324.8124.2424.0022.4721.4139.36More than one-thirdof Egyptians areneither able noreducationallyprepared tounderstandInformationTechnology.Egypt Human Development Report 2000/2001 - 85
Egypt’s Position in Technology and Information Led GlobalizationIT is seen as aprerequisite for Egyptto build, manage andeffectively use theinformationinfrastructure of thetwenty-first century.Government of Egyptwill also invest inresearch anddevelopment in orderto tailor services andproducts for the poorand illiterate.is quite high, at 55.2 per cent. Accordingly,the percentage of Internet users is as low as4 per cent of the total number of Internetusers in Egypt. Cairo, on the other hand,where the illiteracy rate is relatively low,contains 75 per cent of Internet users.Thus,while other countries in the world areredefining illiteracy to be the lack ofcapacity to use computers, Egypt is stillsuffering from the primary problem of theinability to read and write.Bilingual / Single Language DivideEgypt faces another problem, namely thelanguage barrier. Not everyone in Egypt isbilingual or at least speaks English. Thosewho do not speak English will face theproblem of how to deal with newtechnologies, access the Internet or gaininformation through it. Therefore, thenumber of schools teaching English languageas an obligatory course is rapidly increasing.The National Program for Closingthe Digital GapOver the years, the Egyptian governmenthas applied several programs to close thedigital gap, whether in comparison withother countries or at the national levelbetween socioeconomic groups and betweenthe different regions. IDSC led the way overthe last fifteen years, in diffusing IT ingovernment offices, and in establishingmore than 1,500 information centers all overEgypt. More recently, in 1999, a newMinistry for Communication andInformation Technology was established toimplement a broad National Program, whichconsists of strategies, policies, programs andprojects.Strategies and PoliciesGovernment Commitments. The governmenthas committed to expanding the informationand communications technology in Egypt. Ithas stated its intention to be a role model inusing the new technology in all facets of itsoperations. It will implement the E-Governmentconcept, paving the way for the privatesector to follow.Building Human Capacity in Educationand Training. Increasing the number ofpeople with high skills in IT is seen as aprerequisite for Egypt to build, manage andeffectively use the information infrastructureof the twenty-first century. This will beachieved through schools, universities,communities, and the workplace, using theappropriate means for each.Expanding Basic Connectivity to PeopleEverywhere. This will be accomplishedthrough the expansion of CommunityAccess Centers, to make Internet andtelecommunications services available andeasily accessible to everyone. During thelast fifteen years, more than 1,500 InformationCenters have been established, of whichmore than 600 are in villages. GOE will alsoinvest in research and development in orderto tailor services and products for the poorand illiterate.Creating More Affordable Access toInformation Tools. This program intends toreduce taxes and customer fees for accessingnew technologies, to support new technologiesand techniques that will enable fast accessin rural areas, and to subsidize connectivityto remote areas.Creating new Opportunities for SMEsthrough E-Commerce and E-Business.This is to be achieved by encouraging thedevelopment of micro-enterprises and smallbusinesses that harness the power of newinformation and communication technologies,as well as by developing venture-financingsources that can drive innovation.Fostering Policy, Regulatory Policy andNetwork Readiness. This will beaccomplished by developing policies,regulations, and practices that willencourage private sector investment, whileharvesting the full social, cultural, andeconomic benefits of the Internet, and otherinformation and communication technologies.Enhancing Financial Infrastructure. Aprerequisite for more openness to the newtechnologies is building a less “cash”dependent economy and restructuring thefinancial sector.Programs and ProjectsThe Egyptian government is committed to86 -Egypt Human Development Report 2000/2001
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The Digital Divide is a problem tha
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This report is the major output of
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AcknowledgementsThe Team of the Rep
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Table of ContentsExecutive Summary
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Energy Consumption 68Agriculture 69
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2.4 Health and Education 332.5 Poli
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AbbreviationsADNAADPAIAPRARCB2CBABC
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Executive SummaryI - Globalization
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Executive Summarythe main source of
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Executive Summaryfertilizers, pesti
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Executive Summarythe Egyptian labor
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Chapter OneGlobalization and Human
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Globalization and Human Development
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Chapter TwoThe Economic Well Being
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The Economic Well Being of Egyptian
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Page 50 and 51: The Economic Well Being of Egyptian
Page 58 and 59: Globalization Challenges to Egypt
Page 80 and 81: The Environment and Sustainable Dev
Page 88: The Environment and Sustainable Dev
Page 93 and 94: Chapter FiveEgypt’s Position inTe
Page 95 and 96: Egypt’s Position in Technology an
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Page 109 and 110: Chapter SixGlobalization and Human
Page 111 and 112: Globalization and Human CapitalOf t
Page 113 and 114: Globalization and Human CapitalOne
Page 115 and 116: Globalization and Human CapitalThe
Page 117 and 118: Globalization and Human CapitalEmpl
Page 119 and 120: Chapter SevenEgypt’s Social Capit
Page 121 and 122: Egypt’s Social Capital and Arab E
Page 131 and 132: Technical Notesand Sources of DataH
Page 133 and 134: Technical Notes and Sources of Data
Page 139 and 140: Bibliography◆ Abdallah, H. (1996)
Page 141 and 142: BibliographyOECD Development Centre
Page 143 and 144: BibliographyNational policies in a
Page 145 and 146: Bibliography◆ Springborg,Robert (
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Governorate IndicatorsG.4 Trends in
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Governorate IndicatorsG.6 Status of
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Governorate IndicatorsG.8 Rural-urb
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Governorate IndicatorsG.10 Health p
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Governorate IndicatorsG.12 Educatio
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Governorate IndicatorsG.14 Labor fo
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Governorate IndicatorsG.16 Income d
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Governorate IndicatorsG.18 Demograp
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