Egypt and China to Co-Launch $300 Million Tech Fund

Positioning Egypt as a hub for innovation in AI and semiconductor industries, the country’s Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), Telecom Egypt (TE), Applied Innovation Centre (AIC), and China’s Tsinghua Unigroup have announced to co-launch a $300 million technology investment fund in Egypt.

The fund will focus on innovation in artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor technology and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by ITIDA, TE, AIC and the Chinese company on the side lines of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum Summit held in Beijing.

Egyptian Prime Minister Dr Mustafa Madbouli and other dignitaries were present at the signing ceremony which will enhance cooperation in the fields of communications and information technology between Egypt and China.

Tsinghua Unigroup and affiliates will contribute between 60% 70% of the fund’s capital and this initiative promises substantial economic and technological benefits besides creating jobs. The Tsinghua Unigroup will also be launching a data centre and provide cloud services in Egypt.

Tsinghua Unigroup and its subsidiaries will also explore the feasibility of creating a research and development (R&D) centre in Egypt specialising in chip design and systems engineering, the Egyptian Cabinet said on Sunday.

The MoU also includes collaboration on developing AI applications, particularly large language models in Arabic. This partnership aims to advance Egypt’s AI capabilities and drive technological innovation in the region.

Three Facilities

The MoU aims to create three facilities for manufacturing fiber optic cables and communication equipment, and as many centres for exporting Pledge Services, 800 job opportunities in the fields of electronic circuit design, software development, research and development in optical networks, green transformation technology and semiconductors.

The MOU outlines the cooperation between ETIDA and Wuhan Fiberhome International Technology Company, FiberHome, a pioneer in the provision of IT and integrated services infrastructure, and provide a framework to support and empower both parties in the fields of communications, IT and electronics manufacturing.

The $15 million fiber optic cable facility, second for the Chinese firm in Egypt, will be set up in the Suez Canal Economic Zone on a 40,000 sq. m. with an annual production capacity of 3 million km of fiber and assemble 500,000 units of terminal communication devices and 3,000 units of basic station antennas annually to serve the local market and export to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

The plant is expected to provide about 200 direct and indirect job opportunities in a variety of disciplines in the first phase and 40% of this output is expected to be exported to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.