Egypt’s startup ecosystem tests its resilience amid economic turbulence

Egypt’s startup scene has shown its resilience amid severe economic woes.

Marc Español
This picture taken on September 12, 2021 shows a view of the company offices of "al-Gameya", a tech startup the runs an app to facilitate for strangers to create an informal money-pooling association to provide access for money in time of need, points a screen showing to the application's online portal at the company offices, in Egypts capital Cairo. - Cash-strapped Egyptians fearful of banks have long relied on a "gameya" to access money in time of need, but now tech startups are cashing in on the practice
To:

Al-Monitor Pro Members

From:

Marc Español 

Journalist covering Egypt and Sudan

Date:

July 10, 2023

Bottom Line:

During an event in mid-April organized by the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to mark Startup Day, Minister Amr Talaat stated that despite the economic challenges facing the country and a global decline in investments in the startup sector, Egypt ranked first in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in the number of VC deals closed in 2022, and that during Q1 2023 it ranked second in terms of investment size. The figures cited by Talaat reflect the resilience of Egypt’s startup scene amid severe economic woes. Yet his statements also veil a more nuanced and complex picture: that of an ecosystem that is having to refocus on its fundamentals and sustainability in order to weather the downturn, and of many startups scrambling to find alternative ways to cope with the headwinds and uncertainty.

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