Tejari launches operations in Egypt in partnership with Al Ahly for Development & Investment

In partnership with Al Ahly for Development and Investment (ADI), Egypt's first venture capital company, Tejari Egypt will introduce the benefits of e-procurement and e-commerce services to the country's government departments and private enterprises.

Addressing the media at Cairo ICT 2007 exhibition, Tejari CEO Omar Hijazi said: "Over the next five years, we plan to cater for more than 20,000 Egyptian organizations who will adopt e-procurement through Tejari Egypt, resulting in more than $1 billion worth of trade being transacted through our marketplace. We see enormous potential for e-commerce and e-procurement in Egypt, and with ADI, Tejari has the ideal partner to offer the measurable procurement efficiencies and other benefits that our online marketplace can bring to organizations in Egypt."

Tejari Egypt will introduce e-procurement services to enterprise and government customers in the country, through its Tejari Marketplace service. Tejari customers across the Middle East have realized direct procurement savings of up to 15-20% plus indirect savings of more than 40% through the adoption of e-procurement, and now Tejari Egypt believes that the public and private sector in Egypt is ready to enjoy the same benefits.

To head its new operations in Egypt, Tejari also announced the appointment of Ihab Hassib, as General Manager for Tejari Egypt, and the opening of offices for the new online procurement and trading initiative.

At a press conference to launch Tejari Egypt, officials highlighted Egypt's role as the current largest market of Internet users in North Africa, the growth of broadband availability in the country, and the increased focus on e-government as encouraging factors in the creation of the new online initiative.

"The Egyptian government has committed itself to leveraging the benefits of new technology, and the ICT infrastructure required for e-commerce is being created in many parts of the country," said Fouad Sultan, Chairman & managing director, ADI. "Government organizations with large procurement requirements stand to gain many benefits of moving to Internet-based procurement. Many large enterprises in Egypt, particularly in the industrial sector, are well positioned to adopt e-procurement, having deployed ERP systems, and we look forward to seeing them reaping the benefits of e-procurement."

Tejari is participating in Cairo ICT 2007 to showcase live demonstrations of its online procurement solutions and services to some of the country's senior decision-makers. With the launch of Tejari Egypt, Tejari now has a direct presence in eleven countries, including UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar Iraq, Lebanon, KSA, and Pakistan.