Benya Group, a leading digital solutions and ICT infrastructure provider in Egypt and the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, aims to expand into new markets outside Egypt during the next year, including Saudi Arabia, planning to be part of the digital transformation process under the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
During its participation in the Cairo ICT exhibition and conference, Benya announced the launch of a new subsidiary “Benya for Investment and Entrepreneurship” to invest in emerging companies with a capital of $50m.
Ahmed Mekky, Chairperson and CEO of Benya Group, said the company will rebrand two of its subsidiaries during the first day of Cairo ICT exhibition, changing Fiber Egypt Systems to Benya Systems and Fiber Misr for Engineering Solutions to Benya Engineering.
He added that this step aims to present a new and distinct identity for the group, and to increase the marketing value of the Group’s brand.
Mekky revealed that the Group has an ambitious expansion plan through entering into promising partnerships to implement projects in Egypt and the MEA region. He noted that Benya Systems undertakes the largest part of the digital transformation project in four public business sector companies: the Metallurgical Industries Holding Company; the Chemical Industries Holding Company, the Holding Company for Tourism, Hotels, and Cinema; and the Insurance Holding Company.
He added that Benya Systems has contracted with many clients to build the largest cloud-based data centres in the MEA region, in addition to the Knowledge City project in the New Administrative Capital with EGP 2bn investment.
Benya Engineering was established a year and a half ago. It is specialized in the engineering and communications infrastructure projects, and electromechanical solutions and services.
Meanwhile, Mekky said that Benya Group decided to cooperate with Alfa Tech, a leader in the design and construction of data centres, to be its main partner in Egypt and the Middle East.
In the New Capital, Benya Engineering has been contracted to supply and install 231,000 smart meters for water, electricity, and gas services serving about 75,000 units in cooperation with Telecom Egypt, as well as implementing the technological infrastructure for various projects.
Benya Engineering also installed one of the first participatory towers in the New Administrative Capital with a height of 45 metres within only a month and a half, according to international standards. The participatory towers have a distinctive modern aesthetic and are able to carry devices, equipment and techniques that can accommodate about 5 mobile phone service operators, which was not available before. Through this project, Benya Group was able to prove that there are Egyptian companies that are able, with the support of the state, to build a participatory tower that matches modern international standards.
Benya Group also allied itself with international companies, Siemens, Cisco, Dell Technologies, and other companies, to establish an integrated system for building and managing information and communication technology infrastructure in the City of Knowledge within the Administrative Capital, in cooperation with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, where it signed a number of agreements with various parties in the field of digital transformation, including the Smart Application System Agreement for the first phase of Knowledge City to establish applications that help follow up the daily work of operating various building systems, such as water, electricity, environment, waste, monitoring, transportation and lighting control, and others, which contribute to rationalizing expenses and use in an efficient manner.
Benya Group also participates in the ITS tenders, as the capital’s projects have a high priority for the state, especially with the current trends of the government’s relocation to the capital starting from December 2021.
Meekky added that Cairo ICT is also witnessing the announcement of the Benya Group about the launch of two new entities or two companies for the group, namely: Benya Cloud, which is a multidisciplinary digital center in the cloud that provides secure and smart technology technologies dedicated to providing business needs in order to serve and enhance the digital transformation plan, and Benya Ventures, which is the investment arm of the Benya Group to play an active role in the field of direct investment in start-ups and provide financing for promising projects and companies in the African continent.
In a related context, he revealed the group’s intention to open a factory in the Suez Canal Economic Zone to produce fibre-optic cables next June, where Benya began receiving production lines, and at the present time the permits for building are being completed.
On the other hand, he said that the coming period will witness cooperation between Benya and Saudi Arabia in digital transformation projects, where Mekky received an invitation from King Salman bin Abdulaziz to participate in the Future Investment initiative in its fifth edition, which was hosted by the Kingdom last October. It is worth mentioning that this conference is considered one of the largest conferences for investment in the world, where the leaders of major companies in the world are invited to this ceremony, and in its fifth edition (this year) the conference was attended by about 1,000 leaders of major companies and investment funds.
Mekky believes that Egypt qualifies to be a pivotal centre for the data centre industry in the region due to a number of factors, including its distinguished geographical location and the number of submarine cables that pass through its territory.
Regarding their plans in light of the great competition between leading Arab companies in the field of technological infrastructure, Mekky explained that in light of the great competition between the leading Arab regional companies in the field of technological infrastructure, Benya Group is working to create opportunities for integration and cooperation with competing companies in this field, since creating these opportunities will help to move quickly to establish successful projects in Egypt, Africa and the Middle East.
Benya Group has launched a global advisory board GAB, within the framework of the company’s future vision, which is based on the use of the best competencies in various business sectors, to include important personalities to benefit from their great expertise, which will positively affect the efficiency of the implementation of current and future projects. The new advisory board will enhance the company’s vision and future plans, by advising the company’s leadership and exchanging opinions with international experts. The board includes Lacina Koné, CEO of Smart Africa, Vincenzo Nesci, former regional director of Alcatel-Lucent Egypt, and Hisham Makkawi, former regional head of British Petroleum for North Africa.
