President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with Chief Executive Officer of Orange Group Ms. Christel Heydemann. The meeting was attended by the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Eng. Raafat Hindi; CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa Eng. Yasser Shaker; and CEO of Orange Egypt Mr. Hesham Mahran.
Spokesman for the Presidency Ambassador Mohamed El-Shennawy stated that the meeting focused on areas of cooperation with Orange Group in the telecommunications and information technology sector, in light of the Group’s extensive expertise in telecommunications, digital transformation, and the development of technological systems.
President El-Sisi commended the Group’s success in Egypt in the areas of telecommunications services, digital transformation, smart platforms, community development, and digital education. The President emphasized Egypt’s aspiration to increase the Group’s investments in the Egyptian market, given the promising opportunities it offers for growth and expansion, as well as the numerous initiatives launched by the state in recent years to achieve a qualitative leap in building and developing the capabilities of Egyptian youth and empowering them to utilize modern technologies.
The CEO of Orange Group expressed her honor at meeting President El-Sisi, reaffirming that the successes achieved by the Group in Egypt, in cooperation with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and various state institutions, represent a successful model that could be leveraged and replicated in other countries in the region, particularly across Africa. Ms. Christel Heydemann also praised the Egyptian government’s efforts to support startups across various governorates, expressing her appreciation for the initiatives and programs provided by the state to develop youth skills, foster innovation, and support entrepreneurship.
The President affirmed that he looks forward to exploring cooperation opportunities with Orange Group in implementing the second phase of the National Digital Health Project, thereby leveraging its advanced expertise in digital infrastructure, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and systems integration. The President also reiterated the importance of strengthening cooperation between the Egyptian government and Orange Group in preparing and qualifying Egyptian youth for the future labor market, by providing specialized training programs and opportunities in artificial intelligence, data analytics, cloud computing, and cybersecurity, in addition to supporting their acquisition of internationally accredited professional certifications in cooperation with global partners in the technology sector.
Within the framework of the President’s directives to expand digital capacity-building programs for Egyptian youth, Orange Group announced training grants for approximately 200,000 trainees in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, including the opportunity to obtain internationally recognized certifications. The Group also allocated €25 million to support startups operating in the fields of artificial intelligence and advanced technologies, and committed to supporting a number of Egyptian universities by equipping them with modern technology laboratories, enabling students to keep pace with the latest practical applications and acquire the necessary skills to excel in advanced digital technology fields.
