Cairo, Egypt, 22th of November, 2020
Vodafone participates in Cairo International Exhibition for Information and Communication Technologies 2020 (Cairo ICT) with a new set of technological solutions and various services, and what is new this year is that the company has directed its focus on the most influential sectors in the Egyptian economy, which are also the sectors most affected by the crisis that occurred after the spread of the new COVID-19. Vodafone has put youth and small business owners on top of its priorities this year and has provided each category with a set of services that support them in implementing the digital transformation process and overcoming the various challenges they face.
Furthermore, Vodafone is concentrating on young people and small business owners because these demographics are critical to economic growth. Vodafone thus continuously works to increase the skills of youth, support them in showcasing their abilities, and motivate them to start projects and innovate in order to boost the economy. Vodafone provided this category with a wide range of services during the exhibition.
Mohamed Abdullah, CEO of Vodafone Egypt, said: “We believe that SMEs and youth are the cornerstones of economic growth in any country, and the main driver behind promoting digital transformation in Egypt. And in order to accelerate the pace of this transformation, we decided at Vodafone to give them full support. During their journey in the transformation process and provide them with the technological solutions needed to grow their business, through our various platforms, especially V-Hub, Begin, and Vodafone Cash.”
Abdullah continued and explained that the V-Hub platform is specifically designed to help SMEs which face many challenges that they encounter in managing their work, and mainly offers them technological solutions appropriate to their needs, while providing full support from the beginning of the registration process on the platform and choosing solutions. Vodafone Egypt also provides users with consulting services from experts who are fully familiar with the needs of different companies, especially SMEs, and propose appropriate solutions for them, pointing out that the platform has more than 100 technological solutions for companies in cooperation with international companies Such as Microsoft, Vmware, and SAP, as well as local partners who have experience with the needs of the Egyptian market and small companies operating in it, such as CSG, Corporate Stack Weelo, AIM, Edafa, Widebot, and others, stressing that these solutions are hosted on Vodafone cloud in Egypt and enjoy a high level of security and protection of information and data.
Abdullah indicated that Vodafone Egypt is in the process of providing SD-WAN services in the Egyptian market, which is an important technological solution that transforms information technology networks into smart networks, and this is an important step in the path of digital transformation. This technology solution will be offered in partnership with global leaders VMware and Cisco.
Abdullah added that Vodafone Egypt also launched the “Begin” platform, which seeks to support young talents in various fields, whether writing, translation, design, and other fields. Vodafone provides through Begin a digital platform that brings together companies, whether big or startup companies which is a combination of a group of young cadres of independent business owners under one platform, thus providing new job opportunities for young Egyptian talents in different fields, and also supporting startups and small investors.
Through Begin, the company can develop the project to be completed, then the company begins receiving offers from freelancers, and among the offers, the company chooses the appropriate offer for the project requirements, and then begins the implementation phase that allows the two parties to talk through the chat feature to reach the best quality of the product or the service. The company then performs the e-payment process through that platform in an easy and secure way and evaluates its satisfaction with the work submitted to it. It is worth mentioning that Vodafone not only provided job opportunities for youth through “Begin” platform but also partnered with the Information Technology Institute platform "Maharatak" to support and develop the skills of freelancers through electronic training courses.
Regarding financial inclusion and electronic payment services, Vodafone established partnerships with the public and private sectors this year to offer a collection of electronic solutions to facilitate the financing and payment processes for youth, women, and small investors. This year, Vodafone also provided a mobile payment service using a QR code. In support of financial inclusion, Vodafone unveiled one of its upcoming services, the "Vodafone Cash" service, to allow customers to borrow small amounts for their daily needs which can be used as soon as they are requested through cutting-edge technology methods. The QR code enables Vodafone e-wallet customers to buy and pay purchases through their e-wallet on their mobile phones.
Vodafone also collaborated with the National Council for Women, Alexandria Bank, and the International Care Organization to launch a new service to aid women in rural and remote areas in achieving financial independence. This service is a savings and lending group, with each group having 20 members. Each member saves between 10 and 50 Egyptian pounds on a weekly basis, and when a member of the group needs a personal loan, he can request it from the group’s portfolio and pay in installments, and Abdullah commented: “this idea is similar to the idea of money circle for lending and saving , but it is safer and easier this is because the procedure is carried out in an accurate electronic form by relying on “Vodafone Cash” wallet. The difficulties some people faced during the Corona crisis in communicating with one another motivated us to digitize this procedure, and this confirmed that the digitization process is necessary even in the simplest transactions.
Abdullah expressed his pride in Vodafone's participation in Cairo ICT and stressed that "Vodafone Egypt through its participation in the exhibition every year, works to provide comprehensive and integrated services in the field of financial inclusion and digital transformation to support the country’s orientation in this file, as well. It is keen to provide digital services to various groups of society, according to their different needs, and this year is a new start through which Vodafone supports small investors, owners of small and micro enterprises, and youth.