Egypt stands at the forefront of Africa and the Arab World with its thriving ICT & Electronics market, encompassing vast usage scope and e-waste generation. However, unlocking the full potential of processing and converting these materials into secondary resources remains a significant challenge. The transition to a circular economy in Egypt offers a twofold advantage: bolstering economic growth and employment opportunities while making significant strides towards reducing the environmental impact.
The Global Switch to Circular Economy Value Chains (SWITCH2CE) project has selected Egypt's ICT & Electronics sector as one of the value chains with high potential to shift to and benefit from circularity. Through collaborative efforts with institutions and the private sector, this transformative project aims to drive a profound transition towards embracing a circular economy model in the industry.
Our mission revolves around piloting and scaling up circular solutions within transnational value chains, collaborating closely with the private sector. To support this vision, we are committed to establishing an enabling environment through policy advocacy, cutting-edge research, and constructive dialogues. We also emphasize local capacity building and facilitating circular financing to ensure sustainable growth.
Key Insights from Our Recent Visit to Egypt
During our recent mission to Egypt, we met with the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Chamber of Information Technology and Telecommunications-CIT, Industrial Modernization Centre, the Environmental Compliance and Sustainable Development office-ECO, Electronic waste recycling – E Tadweer, Arab Corporate social responsibility -ACSR, and the Embassy of Finland in Cairo.
All the discussions confirmed the important role that circular economy can play for the ICT and Electronics value chain to Egypt, the need for policy change and alignment with the EU regulations on circularity, and the role of different entities in providing capacity building, awareness raising, and technical assistance related to circularity. We also discussed the availability of green financing schemes and their competitive advantages. To maximise our efforts, alignment with previous and ongoing initiatives on circular economy will be coordinated.
In the upcoming period we will continue integrating the feedback from government institutions, development agencies and NGOs into SWITCH2CE activities, officially launch a pilot project with the private sector, coordinate with the waste management regulation authority and other local and regional initiatives and will continue promoting the concept of circular economy and the benefits it can bring to Egypt’s ICT and Electronics market.
