IT Outsourcing Egypt

Do you have a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) in Egypt that offers Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) services? Are you interested in an improved market position in the EU? And do you want to contribute to an enhanced ecosystem for SMEs?  The Netherlands Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI) can help you. CBI’s ITO project offers you good opportunities:

• Find out which opportunities there are for your company on the European markets;
• Learn more about European requirements, legislation and certification;
• Learn everything you need to know to be a successful exporter;
• Get assistance from our sector experts;
• Find future clients.  

Project details

The current European demand for ICT professionals is high and will keep growing. The demand cannot be fully met within Europe. The outsourcing sector is growing, and more and more European companies are considering outsourcing and new markets for outsourcing their business. This provides opportunities for ITO companies in Egypt. The biggest opportunities are in innovative technologies and niche specialised IT services.

This project aims to help Egypt’s ITO sector take these opportunities. It will support a stable, strengthened, sustainable and inclusive ITO sector in Egypt. The project will do this by:

1. Creating new and strengthening existing supporting services that benefit the entire sector and are accessible for SMEs. This will strengthen the international competitiveness of Egyptian ITO SMEs.
2. Helping with effective organisation, coordination and collaboration amongst sector stakeholders. This will help them improve their support and service delivery.

This project starts in 2022 and ends in 2024.

What can you expect from this CBI project?

This 3-year ITO project supports ITO SMEs from Egypt in their export journey to the EU. CBI offers technical assistance through a practical business export coaching project. CBI prepares your company with the skills and knowledge you need to enter the European market. The project includes:

• 3 years of company coaching provided by an international and local specialist;
• Assistance with the creation of an international market strategy;
• Advice on what certification is suitable for your market entry strategy;
• Coaching to get certification;
• Help to improve your Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR);
• Market orientation support;
• Help finding export business.  

Who can apply?

Country: Egypt Sector: IT Outsourcing (Offshoring)

You can apply for this project if your company meets these requirements:

• The company is at least 50% or more locally owned or has a local management structure;
• SME with at least 10 FTEs and no more than 250 FTEs;
• Does business with European markets or wants to enter the European market;
• Has been active in the ITO industry for at least 3 to 4 years;
• No joint venture with a company based in a non-developing country;
• No licensing commitments that prohibit or limit the export of products to the European Union;
• Management that can communicate in English;

Do you have a woman-led ITO company, and would you like to expand your business into Europe? Do you want a leading role in helping other women and youth in your sector? Please apply for this project.

What do we expect from you?

Our goal is to increase ITO exports from Egypt to Europe and improve the Egyptian ITO sector.

We are looking for ambitious and highly motivated SMEs that are:

• Pro-active and flexible;
• Fully committed to the activities and external coaching throughout the project;
• Willing to share challenges and find solutions;
• Willing to set up internship programmes to contribute to workforce development, diversity and inclusion, and youth empowerment;
• Committed to skills capacity building, training and coaching;
• Willing to pay for costs related to activities. For example, part of the costs for trade fair participation and sustainability activities. CBI and its partners do not cover the costs of travelling, lodging and sending in samples;
• Willing to invest in improving CSR practices in their company;
• Willing to take part with dedicated and qualified people during all CBI visits, workshops and training sessions. Please note that all activities will be in English;
• Willing to invest time into the action plan made for their company;
• Committed to investing in the necessary changes to become successful in the European market and increase sustainability. Changes may apply to staff allocation, your products, production and export marketing;
• Willing to provide CBI and its partners with their company’s name, logo and achievements for promotion of the project;
• Willing to inform CBI about the company’s progress in terms of export and sustainability. CBI will treat the provided information as confidential;
• Ambitious and motivated to take the next step with their company.  

Costs

You do not have to pay a fee to take part in this project. CBI will finance most project costs. But participants must pay for the following costs:

• Flights and other travel expenses for European market entry activities;
• Investment in product offers, employees, certification, and so on;
• Domestic travel expenses if training sessions are outside your city.  

Partners

Partners in this project include:

• ITIDA
• EITESAL
• CIT
• NU
• NP  

Interested?

For companies outside the Cairo region, the application deadline for this project was 28 February 2022.

The deadline for applications from the Cairo region closed on 31 January 2022. We will put applications that meet the project conditions but were sent after January 31 on a reserve list.

For questions or more information, please contact us at services@cbi.eu.