Hassan Allam Digital Infrastructure and Data Center Solutions, the digital infrastructure arm of Hassan Allam Holding, has been granted a license by the Egyptian National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) to establish data centers in the North African country.
This is the tenth license issued by the NTRA in the last two years, reflecting the country’s push to modernize its digital infrastructure and establish both data centers and cloud technology as key pillars of the nation’s economy. Given data privacy regulations that dictate that data is kept in the country, this push is critical. Without large-scale data centers, modernization lags behind the rest of the world. Moreover, a fire at the 10-storey Ramses Exchange telecom centre last year highlighted the importance of building out resilience for Egypt’s digital infrastructure.
With its license in hand, Hassan Allam Digital Infrastructure and Data Center Solutions will invest US$ 400 million in an initial phase of the build-out of a state-of-the-art data center that meets the highest standards locally and globally. The company will work with A15, an Egyptian venture capital and technology firm, on this project.
“This milestone marks an important step in our journey to support the growing demand for data center services, cloud computing, artificial intelligence applications, and the broader data-driven economy,” Mohamed Magdy Allam, Managing Director of Hassan Allam Digital Infrastructure, said in a press release.
The investment will benefit not only the Egyptian economy but the wider North African region. This will be accomplished through expanded access to data center and cloud computing services for government entities, financial institutions, and both national and international businesses.
Establishing data centers and cloud services in Egypt is especially important given the country’s push to improve digital inclusion. With more businesses coming online and the worldwide push for AI innovation, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and NTRA are working together to create a regulatory environment that encourages digital innovation rather than holding it back.
While Egypt is ahead of many African nations when it comes to its data center and cloud economy, it lags behind the continent’s leading market, South Africa. By creating a regulatory environment that pushes this sector forward, Egypt may become the next destination for major hyperscalers and eventually surpass South Africa, especially considering its strategic location bordering the Middle East.