Egypt's second National AI Strategy sets the state's terms for adoption

Egypt published the second edition of its National AI Strategy on 16 January 2025, updating a framework first issued several years earlier.

The revision reflects how much changed in between. The first edition was written before generative models became a mainstream procurement question for governments; the second is written into a landscape where they are.

Four practical strands

The strategy organises activity around governance, infrastructure, human capital and applied deployment in priority sectors. Each strand has a different failure mode: governance can become paperwork, infrastructure can become underused hardware, training can produce credentials without employment, and applied projects can stall at pilot stage.

Talent is the binding constraint

The strategy's dependence on skilled staff connects it directly to the ministry's training programmes, covered in our report on Egypt's digital skills pipeline.

Governance and data

Any public-sector AI deployment touching personal records runs into the country's data protection framework. The interaction between the two — strategy ambition and statutory obligation — is discussed in our analysis of the executive regulations.

What to watch

Look for published procurement, named deployments in specific agencies, and evaluation reporting. A strategy that produces measurable service changes is a different thing from one that produces conferences.