Egypt offers fertile environment for fintech industry

Sean Mathews

This photograph taken on December 17, 2020 shows shows a physical imitation of a Bitcoin at a crypto currency "Bitcoin Change" shop, near Grand Bazaar, in Istanbul. - Leading virtual currency bitcoin on 16 December traded above $20,000 for the first time following a sustained run higher in recent weeks. Bitcoin reached a record-high $20,398.50 before pulling back to $20,145, which was still an intra-day gain of nearly four percent. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP) (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images) — This photograph taken on Dec. 17, 2020, shows shows a physical imitation of a Bitcoin at a cryptocurrency "Bitcoin Change" shop near the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey. — OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

When Saeed Talaat left his internship in Dubai with Emirates NBD Bank, he planned to return to Egypt to start a ticket-purchasing platform. The startup idea was one he and his friends had entered in a digital banking competition in 2016 during their last year at the American University of Cairo.

Things didn’t turn out exactly as he planned. Back in Egypt, they were told the ticket platform was risky and too dependent on its linkage with Facebook to be viable.

“We started doing more research on financial services and payment issues,” Talaat told Al-Monitor.

Their research led them to Egypt’s educational system. The country has over 50,000 schools and around 25 million students, the vast majority of whom pay their fees or tuition in cash. “The market was huge and we saw there was no digital integration or payment,” Talaat recalled.

Egypt offers fertile environment for fintech industry

As Egyptians do more online, the government is seeking to harness the fintech industry for solutions to the challenges in the Egyptian economy.

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