Egypt signs deal with Nokia to build IoT infrastructure
Egyptian Minister of Communications and IT Amr Talaat oversaw the signing of a deal between Telecom Egypt and Nokia International to build Internet of Things infrastructure in the country.
The ministry said Telecom Egypt’s network enables the provision IoT services to companies on a global scale, based on Nokia’s multi-service model.
The agreement will contribute to the automation of projects and help companies reduce their operating expenses, enhance productivity, and provide new services to markets faster.
It includes establishment of a global IoT infrastructure and a Pay As You Grow business model, and Nokia will enable Telecom Egypt to provide IoT services at low prices.
The deal was signed by Adel Hamed, managing director and CEO of Telecom Egypt, and Henrik Fall, head of cloud services and networks in the Middle East and Africa at Nokia.
Talaat attended the signing ceremony during his visit to Dubai to attend the 41st GITEX Global Exhibition and Conference.
He also met Ram Ramachandran, senior vice president and head of Middle East and Africa for Tech Mahindra. Tech Mahindra is an Indian multinational subsidiary of the Mahindra Group.
The Egyptian minister discussed ways to increase Tech Mahindra’s contribution to the digital transformation of Egypt.
Orginal Article Link: https://www.arabnews.com/node/1950286/business-economy
Egyptian Startup Swvl to Enter Europe’s Market via Shotl Acquisition
Egypt-founded transportation startup has agreed to buy Spain-based Shotl, an on-demand shuttle-booking platform, according to Reuters.
Spain-based Shotl would serve as Swvl’s HQ in Europe, which would help double its geographic footprint as part of the company’s strategy to expand to 20 countries by 2025, with a goal of driving more than $1 billion of annual gross revenue. Shotl operates in 22 cities across 10 countries, including Brazil and Japan.
In addition to expanding to global markets, the deal also allows Swvl to venture into autonomous driving projects, which is through Shotl’s participation in a project led by the European Commission to reveal the impact of self-driving minibuses on the future of public transport networks.
The news comes after it was announced last month that the company plans to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange and go public in a merger with special purpose acquisition company Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital.
This makes Swvl the first Middle East $USD 1.5 billion ‘unicorn’ to list on Nasdaq US and the largest African unicorn debut on any U.S.-listed exchange, beating Jumia’s debut of $1.1 billion on the NYSE.
Founded by Mostafa Kandil, Mahmoud Nouh and Ahmed Sabbah in 2017, the three friends started the company as a bus-hailing service in Egypt to fix the problem of transportation, as well as other ride-sharing services in emerging markets.
Swvl operates buses along fixed routes using an app in 10 countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Kenya, and Pakistan.
Orginal Article Link: https://egyptianstreets.com/2021/08/19/egyptian-startup-swvl-to-enter-europes-market-via-shotl-acquisition/