The liberalisation of the exchange rate of the pound against the dollar did not only come with negative impacts, but also had a positive effect on some sectors. The outsourcing sector was one amongst the most prominent sectors that benefited from the flotation, which made its prices more competitive compared to other providers, giving Egypt more potential to become an international destination for the industry.
CEO of Raya Trade Bassem Megahed said that the trade sector was the main driver of growth of Raya Holding, but the company’s outsourcing subsidiary has recently begun bringing back strong returns in the past two years.
He attributed the good performance of the outsourcing company of Raya Holding to the flotation of the pound, which contributed to increasing the competitive prices of Egyptian companies that provide outsourcing services and thus managed to spread better, especially that the human elements in Egypt’s outsourcing services are distinct compared to competitors in India or other countries, but cost less than others.
Egypt achieves revenues of $1.6bn from outsourcing services. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology aims to achieve greater development and achieve double digit growth over the next three years, increase revenues to $3bn and provide 750,000 new jobs through a systematic plan targeting training and the establishment of technological parks across Egypt and exploiting the passage of submarine cables on Egyptian coasts.
Sameh Montasser, head of outsourcing at the Etisal Group, said that companies should start taking steps to deal with future challenges that have slowed industrial growth in a number of countries due to artificial intelligence and technological sophistication by injecting investments into smart platforms and forging partnerships with cloud computing technology companies and partnerships with emerging companies to bring about an evolution in the export of IT services.
He stressed the need to take advantage from the university graduates and prepare them to join the outsourcing sector, which is already providing 15,000 jobs with a monthly salary of EGP 4,000-7,000.
He noted that the liberalisation of the exchange rate and the rise in the dollar exchange rate against the pound increases the competitiveness of Egypt in outsourcing services compared to Eastern European countries, as well as the presence of a large segment of young people looking for work in Egypt.
He predicted that the outsourcing sector will see rapid growth in the coming period, in light of the implementation of the Ministry of Communications strategy to spread technology parks everywhere in Egypt.
“Restoring outsourced services to its rightful position depends on the launch of a strong, business-capable infrastructure to meet the growing domestic and international demand for companies in the coming period, as well as enhancing the confidence of foreign investors in the local market,” said Khaled Sherif, a former assistant minister of communications and information technology.
Sherif predicted that Egypt would become a destination attracting foreign investment in excess of billions in the field of outsourcing, in parallel with the development of the efficiency of the infrastructure and the telecommunications network, thus contributing to a jump in the growth rates of the outsourcing industry by 100%.
