Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly inaugurated the 30th Cairo International Exhibition and Technology Conference for the Middle East and Africa, also known as Cairo ICT 2026, on Saturday at the Egypt International Exhibition Centre in New Cairo. The event, running from November 7 to 10, has the theme "AI in Action" and brings together regional and international delegations, government officials, global technology companies, and startup founders. Several cabinet ministers and industry leaders attended the opening ceremony.
The conference aims to advance the information and communications technology sector to improve administrative efficiency, expand digital services, and drive sustainable economic growth. During his tour of the exhibition, Madbouly reaffirmed the government's commitment to this goal. Minister of Communications and Information Technology Raafat Hendy outlined the sector's roadmap towards Egypt Vision 2030, presenting key strategic targets.
The strategic targets include creating 200,000 new professional opportunities, supporting 250 artificial intelligence-driven startups, and attracting five to seven specialised AI data centres. Egypt also aims to manufacture 30 million mobile phones locally and export 30% of that production. Additionally, the country targets increasing digital exports to $12bn by 2030 and expanding fibre-optic network coverage to 55% nationwide.
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has made significant progress in digital transformation. The Digital Egypt platform now offers 261 services across 29 packages, supported by 21 mobile applications. Its active user base increased by 32% to 13.7 million in 2026, compared with 10.4 million in 2025. The number of completed transactions on the platform rose from 23.8 million to 36 million.
Key enablers supporting this expansion include biometric digital identity verification, electronic signatures, and a secure digital vault for document management. Newly introduced services and features include the remote issuance of general powers of attorney and digital work registration certificates. The Digital Egypt platform also reached the final shortlist for the United Nations Public Service Awards in the digital government category.
The exhibition also highlighted Egypt's National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, which focuses on governance, infrastructure, business ecosystems, and the development of specialised talent. One of the featured achievements was Karnak, a large language model developed by the Applied Innovation Centre. Karnak ranked first among Arabic-language AI models and recorded more than 300,000 downloads.
The ministry unveiled three new specialised applications built on Karnak, including Karnak Legal, Seya, and Senna. These applications aim to provide simplified legal guidance, support interactive education, and detect dental caries in children. Cairo ICT 2026 features specialised exhibition halls and several events, including the AIDC² cloud computing exhibition and the PAFIX digital payments conference.
Key points
- Egypt aims to increase digital exports to $12bn by 2030.
- The country targets creating 200,000 new professional opportunities and supporting 250 artificial intelligence-driven startups.
- The Digital Egypt platform offers 261 services across 29 packages, supported by 21 mobile applications.
