The Egyptian National Council for Artificial Intelligence (NCAI) has launched recently the second edition of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) strategy for the period of 2025-2030, which comes in line with the country’s vision till 2030 in which digital transformation and keeping up with the latest technologies are cornerstones.
The launch of the second edition came in coincidence with applying the first measures of the EU AI Act, and ahead of the AI Action Summit scheduled for 10-11 February in Paris that gathers heads of state and government, leaders of international organizations, CEOs of small and large companies, representatives of academia, non-governmental organizations, artists and members of civil society to explore how to address the global challenges through the AI technologies.
The strategy sets main targets over the short and long terms with six key pillars, which are the governance; technology; data, digital and AI infrastructure, ecosystem, and skills.
The Main Objectives
** Providing an inclusive AI vision o foster Digital Egypt, promoting social and economic development and benefiting all Egyptians.
** Introducing a national foundational model as a basis to drive industry development and regional cooperation, making Egypt a leader in AI in Africa and the Arab region and an active international player.
** Create an AI industry supported by governance, technology, data, infrastructure, ecosystem, and talents, to ensure its sustainability and competitiveness for purposes of promoting Egypt’s development.
Action plan
To achieve this vision, the strategy sets six strategic pathways as follows:
- Ensure ethical and responsible AI use by establishing a comprehensive AI regulatory system, activate the ethical framework, and put a nucleus for a clear regulatory body, actively contributing to global efforts and playing an active role in AI different international fora.
- Enhance quality of life and sectoral efficiency through AI applications.
- Ensure data accessibility and sharing by developing frameworks for national data governance and strengthening life cycle management of domestic data.
- Build a robust scalable AI infrastructure and cloud services, innovate business models, and create a good digital foundation for the development of the AI industry with the support of infrastructure development
- Create a healthy AI ecosystem by supporting local startups, small and medium enterprises, and innovation efforts, and strengthening the investment of venture capital institutions in Egypt.
- Strengthening the quantity and quality of local AI talents and experts.
What Are The Key Targets Egypt Eyes By Adopting This Strategy?
The strategy involves a set of targets Egypt plans to reach by 2030 under this strategy:
** Contribution of the ICT sector to Egypt’s GDP to reach 7.7%, up from the current 5.8%.
** 26% of Egypt’s workforce that is considered a marginal population to benefit from AI tools and applications.
** As AI technology develops, 36% of the general public will have access to AI and AI-powered products in their daily lives in 5 years .
** The number of AI professionals/experts is expected to reach 30,000 by 2030.
** Enable and support the establishment of 250+ successful AI companies in Egypt.
** AI technology, including generative AI, could help accelerate academic research to double the current number of AI publications to reach 6000 publications per year, establishing Egypt as a regional research cooperation center.
Interesting Numbers
The strategy touches upon the position of the AI market global and how it is expected to achieve significant leaps looking ahead.
** The global AI market size was valued at $515.31 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow
to $2,740.46 billion by 2032, with a CAGR of 20.4% during the forecast period. Another
estimate suggests that the market will reach $4,726.6 billion by 2033, with a CAGR of 38.1%
from 2024 to 2033.
** The market for AI technologies is expected to grow from around $200 billion in 2023 to over $1.8 trillion by 2030.
** While overall AI private investment decreased in 2023, funding for generative AI sharply increased. The sector attracted $25.2 billion in 2023, nearly nine times the investment of 2022 and about 30 times the amount in 2019.
** Generative AI accounted for over a quarter of all AI-related private investment in 2023 . In 2024, the proportion of research papers focused on AI topics has seen a significant increase. According to the AI Index Report, AI-related research papers now account for approximately 6.3% to 17.5% of all scientific publications, depending on the specific area of AI .
** AI has taken a prominent position on the agendas of international organizations, with each addressing aspects that intersect with its area of expertise. Large models catalyze AI development and reset the market landscape of AI, bringing all players on the same playing field again. Countries may exert AI-Generated Content (AIGC) as a tool to take the lead again in AI. AIGC development is accelerating, and the computing power has multiplied exponentially in the last 5 years.
** Global GDP could be 14% higher in 2030 as a result of AI (the equivalent of an additional $15.7 trillion) marking it as the biggest commercial opportunity in today’s fast-changing economy.
In a Nutshell
The AI and its related technologies and tools are rising amid unprecedented global and regional geopolitical and economic challenges. Countries worldwide have scrambled to formulate their national AI strategies for artificial intelligence, starting from Canada in 2017, followed by more than 60 other countries, according to the OECD AI Policy Observatory.
Meanwhile, the number of agreements between countries for cooperation in this relatively new
field is significantly increasing as well.
Adopting a national AI strategy in Egypt is not only an effort to keep the pace with the rapid-growing digital scene globally, but also is a key mission to sets a vision of using such a rising technology that is changing the world.
