The UAE's Ministry of Investment and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of Egypt have signed to invest in Egypt's digital infrastructure.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) could lead to 1GW of data center capacity being developed in Egypt. A specific timeline has not been provided.

According to Dr. Amr Talaat, Minister of Communications and Information Technology in Egypt, the first phase of the MoU will be to develop 100MW of data center capacity. "Additionally, proposed incentives to support further investment in data center projects will be discussed. Both sides will exchange general project-related information, and explore cooperation in investment and policy research, development of certifications, research and development, and innovation within data center projects. A joint action plan and mechanisms for monitoring the memorandum’s implementation will also be developed through cooperation between the two sides.”

The MoU is working in support of Egypt's digitization goals. The "Digital Egypt" plan, part of the Egypt Vision 2030, hopes to see Egypt build a strong digital economy. Developing ICT infrastructure, both in and outside of Egypt, as well as expanding the African International Network and developing local data centers, is the basis for Digital Egypt.

Reports suggest that the data center market in Egypt could increase in valuation from $490 million in 2022, to $1.1 billion by 2030.

Egypt is a highly connected location due to the density of subsea cables going through the country. In October 2023, Telecom Egypt and 4iG signed a MoU for a new subsea cable connecting the country to Albania. That same month, Minister Talaat announced that Egypt would be allocating more than $600m towards developing its subsea internet cable network.

In May 2023, UAE firm Khazna Data Centers announced that it would build a data center in Cairo, Egypt. That same month GPX Global Systems said it would expand its Cairo 2 data center, almost quadrupling its IT capacity.