Taking Egyptian SMEs Online with the CBE Initiative

As all nations around the world are forced to adapt to a new normal, Egypt now has the power to leverage today’s online technologies to strengthen its recovery and completely revolutionize the lives of its citizens, in the wake of incredibly disruptive events.

The strength of the Egyptian digital economy and e-commerce sector has already proven to be a vital lifeline for many businesses throughout the pandemic, helping to overcome the various challenges that have arisen, including lower retail foot traffic and the temporary closing of shops.

However, this shift to digital has been accelerated massively due to current circumstances and more businesses than ever are now taking payments online and adapting their services to be more digital-friendly, from food outlets to financial service providers. Yet, as the nation continues to deal with the very real challenges of COVID-19, many businesses have still not moved online.

As such, the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE), in collaboration with Amazon Payment Services and other partners, have launched an initiative to get more SMEs online in order to help them secure online revenue, offer services that are more attuned to customer preferences and ultimately contribute to a more robust jobs market and digital economy