Egypt has managed to accommodate the doubling in demand for internet services during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic due to the country’s prudent infrastructure investments, according to Amr Talaat, Minister of Communications and Information Technology.
Egypt’s digital transformation programme and the government’s swift response to the pandemic were among the topical issues explored by Talaat in an in-depth video interview (vidcast) with Oxford Business Group (OBG).
Talaat said that prudent decisions taken last year enabled Egypt to accommodate the inevitable rise in demand for internet access when the pandemic arrived.
“The eruption of the pandemic was coupled with an immediate surge in internet usage patterns in terms of the number of people online and the peak hours, both of which in fact doubled. People simply went fully digital for most aspects in life,” he said. “Luckily we executed a major fortification project during 2019 that enabled the infrastructure in Egypt to absorb the unprecedented and unplanned multiplication of loads and pressure on the infrastructure.”
