Tax accountant Ashraf Abdel Ghani, founder of the Egyptian Tax Experts Association, said that the ICT sector in Egypt is witnessing an unprecedented boom, with a growth rate exceeding 16% over the past five years, making it the country's fastest-growing sector.
Abdel Ghani noted that revenues from the communications and information technology sector reached EGP 315 billion last year, a growth rate of 75%, and the value of digital exports rose to $6.2 billion, nearly half of which came from outsourcing exports, which rose to $3.7 billion, a growth rate of 54%.
He said that Egypt ranked third globally in the outsourcing industry, thanks to its human capital and low wages compared to other countries, as well as the presence of a developed infrastructure in this sector. Abdel Ghani stated that the ICT sector's contribution to the GDP has reached 5.8%, and the target is to increase this percentage to 8% by 2030. He stressed that achieving this goal requires reviewing "digital taxes," a global term that refers to the tax policies followed by any country to collect taxes from technology companies on revenues and sales.
He pointed out that startups in Egypt suffer from outdated laws that are
inconsistent with their nature, whether regarding shareholder agreements,
operating licenses, or dispute resolution mechanisms. This has led to the
spread of the "offshore" phenomenon, where companies are established
outside the country due to low taxes and the availability of investment and tax
advantages.
The founder of the Egyptian Tax Experts Association called for the establishment of special zones for technology companies, as well as providing easy financing for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and increasing internet speed to one terabyte per second, instead of the current maximum of 150 megabytes per second.