Business Today Egypt (BT) July - August 2021

In-Depth
Infographic source: We are Social; Hootsuite
tools and services.
“People went fully digital in most aspects of
their lives,” Talaat told OBG in September 2020.
“The pandemic caused an immediate surge in
internet usage patterns, both in terms of users
and peak hours.”
According to a report from the National
Telecom Regulatory Authority, in mid-March
and mid-April alone, there was a 40% year-onyear
increase in online traffic.
Peak hours for internet services and online
applications doubled to 15 hours per day, writes
OBG, as web browsing skyrocketed by 131%,
home internet usage climbed by 87%, and mobile
internet activity rose by 18%. ADSL subscriptions
also saw a big jump, as the number
of subscriptions increased by 6.9 million in June
2019 to 8 million in June 2020.
According to the International Data Corporation,
the number of smartphones shipped to
Egypt increased by 16.5% in 2019 to 14.9 million
units, and the OBG report attributes this to
the young generation’s willingness to spend and
buy new consumer goods.
In turn, the uptick in smartphone purchases
boosted mobile internet use, with Egypt witnessing
a 24% rise in the number of mobile internet
users to 42.3 million in January 2020, according
to the MCIT.
To meet amplified demand, the MCIT’s Information
Technology Industry Development
Agency (ITIDA) disbursed over LE61 million in
export subsidies to 106 ICT companies between
mid-April and July 2020 through the ExportIT
program, the report reads.
ICT exports, as well as business process outsourcing
(BPO) and information technology
outsourcing (ITO) services, are an important
source for the country’s revenue, with market
research firm IDC expecting returns to grow
from $3.3 billion in 2017 to $4.7 billion in 2020,
according to OBG.
56 July-August 2021
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