Global call center giant Foundever to increase investments to EUR 65 mn to expand Egypt operations

Foundever is looking to hire 5k Egyptians over the next four years as part of an expansion plan under an MoU with the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) that will see it increase its investments to EUR 65 mn to expand its two existing call centers in Cairo and launch a new center in Luxor set to open in 1H 2025, according to a statement by the CIT Ministry and press release (pdf) from ITIDA

Its expansion into Luxor — its first outside the capital — may just be the beginning, with “more locations [to] follow as we continue to grow and contribute to Egypt’s digital and economic development,” said Foundever’s multilingual region managing director, Benedita Miranda.

Digital exports are an important part of the government’s plan for the outsourcing industry, with the signing of this agreement and other recent agreements attended by senior officials to give their firm backing. Other recent agreements to push the sector include Deloitte’s launch of its Cairo innovation hub in October, which was described by CIT Minister Amr Talaat as part of the government’s attempts to increase digital exports and build a knowledge-based economy. The recent granting of licenses to seven firms to establish and operate call centers using voice over internet protocol — known in the industry as VoIP — and other tools was also described as part of a larger effort to make Egypt into a global outsourcing hub.

By the numbers: The government wants to see digital outsourcing services bring USD 9 bn into the economy annually as of 2026. Egypt’s digital exports brought in USD 6.2 bn in 2023, up 26.5% y-o-y from 2022. The figure includes outsourcing exports — think call centers and human resource centers — which accounted for over half of the digital exports in 2023, standing at USD 3.7 bn, up 54% y-o-y.