Souq.com facilitates launch of new e-commerce startups

Souq.com Egypt, Egypt’s largest e-commerce platform, announced today its plans to help establish a new crop of e-commerce startups, which will be set to join the country’s burgeoning e-commerce industry within the next three months.

86 young Egyptian entrepreneurs are scheduled to join the E-Commerce Entrepreneurship Program in August for an eight-week training course that aims to equip them with the skills and know-how needed to launch their own e-commerce ventures.

“Egypt is a country that is home to a massive population and internet penetration rate of 44 percent. Of those 39 million internet users, 9 percent, or 3.58 million, are transacting online,” said Omar Elsahy, General Manager at Souq.com Egypt. “This means that Egypt is ripe for a burst of e-commerce growth in the coming years, and programs such as our E-Commerce Development Program are what are needed to drive the industry and help it reach its potential.”

The industry’s high potential for growth is clear, as the country is home to a large generation of young online purchasers that will facilitate the growth of e-commerce in Egypt. According PAYFORT’s recent “Arab World Online Payment Report 2014,” over 65 percent of the Egyptian population is under the age of 40, and nearly 85 percent of all e-commerce transactions are made by the 18-to-40 age bracket. This telling statistic suggests that Egypt has the consumer base needed for its burgeoning e-commerce industry to continue to grow.

Last week, the E-Commerce Entrepreneurship Program, which is organized in partnership with Education for Employment Egypt (EFE|Egypt) and supported by the US-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), celebrated the graduation of its inaugural class of entrepreneurs with the launch of three new e-commerce startups.