Egypt aims to build up to seven mega data centres by 2030

Scale and Timeline of the Mega Data Centres

Communications and Information Technology Minister Raafat Hendy announced at Egypt Forum 2026 that Egypt will construct five to seven mega data centres over the next four to five years.

Some of the facilities are slated to become operational and begin exporting services by 2030, while the remaining sites will continue development beyond that date.

The plan marks a dramatic shift for a country that currently possesses limited large‑scale data centre capacity.

No detailed figures on individual site capacity, construction cost, or precise locations were disclosed during the briefing.

Economic and Sovereignty Objectives

The government ties the data centre build‑out to its Digital Egypt 2030 targets, which include an ICT contribution of 8 percent to national GDP.

By 2030, the strategy aims to generate $12 billion in annual digital exports, a goal that the new centres are expected to help achieve.

Hendy also highlighted a target of creating 200 000 new jobs and fostering 250 AI‑focused startups as part of the broader digital agenda.

Investment in telecom infrastructure over the past decade has already exceeded EGP 600 billion (approximately $11 billion), laying a financial foundation for the upcoming centres.

Egypt’s fibre network now spans roughly 5.5 million kilometres, with an additional one million kilometres planned each year, and fibre is projected to reach over 55 percent of households by 2030.

Ten new submarine cables have been installed in the last ten years, and six more are under construction, expanding landing stations and routing capacity for uninterrupted international connectivity.

These submarine assets are intended to position Egypt as a leading hub for international telecom infrastructure, supporting the export ambitions of the new data centres.

Hendy listed five pillars underpinning the digital strategy, including sovereign infrastructure, cybersecurity, AI, and data protection.

He cautioned that “absolute digital sovereignty is unrealistic”, suggesting that Egypt will pursue partial sovereignty through international engagement rather than isolation.

International Engagement and Market Outlook

The minister acknowledged that achieving full digital sovereignty would require cooperation within established global frameworks, regulations, and standards.

This stance leaves room for foreign partners and investors to participate in the construction and operation of the mega data centres.

Currently, Egypt lacks a major hyperscaler presence such as AWS, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure, a gap identified as a barrier to scaling services under data‑locality rules.

By inviting external cloud providers, the government hopes to overcome the absence of domestic hyperscalers and meet the demand for compute, storage, and networking resources.

Additional 2030 objectives include universal 5G coverage across all governorates, deployment of 400 services on the Digital Egypt platform (up from about 250 today), and the creation of a mobile phone manufacturing capacity for 30 million devices.

These complementary initiatives are designed to create a robust digital ecosystem that can sustain the anticipated data centre export activities.

Overall, the data centre programme is presented as a cornerstone of Egypt’s ambition to become a regional digital hub and a driver of economic diversification.

Why This Matters: the success of Egypt’s mega data centre plan will determine whether the country can translate its substantial telecom investments into a viable export‑oriented digital economy.