By Mohamed Alaa Eldin
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology aims to raise the sector’s GDP to EGP 195bn by 2020, up from EGP 58.3bn for 2014.
According to a Ministry official, the sector is expected to contribute to the nation’s GDP at a rate of 8.4% by the end of 2020, compared to 3.8% for 2014.
The official added that sector growth rates are expected to rise to 10% for 2014 and to 16% over the next 6 years. He also said that employment opportunities in the sector will increase to 250,000 direct jobs by 2020 compared to the current 15,000.
The number of indirect jobs the sector will provide is set to increase from 45,000 to 750,000 by the end of 2020, according to the official.
The source went on to add that the Ministry aims to double the size of the telecom and IT market from EGP 11bn for 2014 to EGP 23bn by 2020. There will be simultaneous work to increase the size of the electronic industry from EGP 14bn to EGP 70bn over the next six years.
In remarks to Daily News Egypt, the official said that the ministry is looking to increase the penetration rate of high-speed internet to 50% by 2020, up from 14.3% for 2014.
