Egyptian government has launched a new retail automation initiative called Tawteen.
According to Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC), the initiative aims to stimulate four million micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to benefit from technological transformation. It has also been designed to create non-traditional new job opportunities for firms, and open new markets for companies and entrepreneurs.
With this new initiative, the government seeks to automate 400,000 retailers in the upcoming three years, IDSC specifies. It also noted that Tawteen is meant to achieve the Egyptian government’s desired goals by working to rapidly advance the trading system and achieve greater financial inclusion alongside promoting digital transformation.
In addition, Tawteen is hoped to facilitate financing to target merchants through national banks, and in cooperation with various institutions active in the retail sector, IDSC added.
The initiative’s first phase will take place in cooperation with the Information Technology Industry Development Agency and several banks working in the local market.
The time is ripe for such initiatives as Egypt, because, regardless of being the largest market in the Middle East region, only 71 per cent of the country’s consumers in the country have access to internet which negatively impacts the retail sector, according to a new report by McKinsey Digital market research. Compared to other GCC countries Egypt also has lower digital adoption of financial services.
On the bright side, technology has made a big splash in Egypt— it is slightly ahead of Saudi Arabia and the UAE—which clearly signals the retailers willingness to step up the digitalisation game.
