• The Tech initiative will help women entrepreneurs and students use AI tools for digital marketing and e-commerce.

• The program builds on Qodwa-Tech’s success, a national MCIT and UNDP initiative that has trained over 32,000 women since 2019 to close the gender digital gap and boost women’s digital skills.

• It comes as Egypt’s ICT sector expands rapidly, growing 14.4% in 2023/2024 with EGP 315 billion in revenue and a 5.8% GDP share.

Egypt has expanded its Artificial Intelligence for Digital Marketing and E-Commerce training program under the Qodwa-Tech initiative, in partnership with Ta’heal for VET Skills Excellence, the Zamit platform, and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Announced on October 8 by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), the initiative targets women entrepreneurs running handicraft and service-based projects, as well as young girls from the Traditional Crafts Applied Technology School and vendors on the Zamit platform.

Delivered online through morning and evening sessions, the program currently trains 160 participants, including girls aged 16 to 18. It aims to equip women with in-demand digital and AI skills, preparing them for both local and global markets. Participants learn to leverage AI tools for digital marketing and e-commerce—boosting productivity, expanding online visibility, and driving the digital transformation of small enterprises.

The training builds upon the success of Qodwa-Tech, a national women’s empowerment initiative launched in 2019 by the MCIT with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Since its inception, Qodwa-Tech has trained more than 32,000 women across all Egyptian governorates, helping bridge the gender digital divide by developing skills in social media marketing, e-commerce, and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.

The new AI-focused course introduces participants to the latest digital marketing and e-commerce tools and applications, covering product development, audience analysis, content creation, and AI-driven social media strategies. It also provides guidance on selecting the most effective online platforms for product promotion and leveraging e-commerce to help small businesses reach international markets.

This initiative comes at a time of growth for Egypt’s ICT sector, which remains one of the country’s fastest-growing industries. According to the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), the sector achieved a 14.4% growth rate in the 2023/2024 fiscal year—its sixth consecutive year of leading national growth. Revenues climbed to EGP 315 billion, marking a 75% year-on-year increase, while its contribution to GDP rose from 5.0% in 2022/2023 to 5.8%, and is projected to reach 8% by 2030.

Hikmatu Bilali