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Investment Minister: Uber's expansion in Egypt shows the appeal of the investment climate
Sahar Nasr invites Uber's CEO to visit Sharm El-Sheikh: "My children use Uber because parking is so hard"
By Akram Medhat
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced the launch of Uber Bus in Egypt, starting in Cairo, the first city in the world to get the service. Uber Bus aims to ease traffic congestion by encouraging customers to leave their cars at home, pooling as many ride requests as possible into a single shared trip and offering the cheapest way to get around.
Uber's global CEO behind the wheel of Uber Bus
The announcement came during the Uber chief's first-ever visit to Egypt, at a press conference held today to unveil the new service. It was attended by Dr. Sahar Nasr, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation; Ethan Stock, Uber's director of product; and Abdellatif Waked, Uber's regional general manager for the Middle East and North Africa.
In his remarks, Khosrowshahi said this first visit to Egypt would not be his last, after touring the Pyramids and the Egyptian Museum the day before. He highlighted the important role Uber now plays in Egypt for drivers, partner companies and riders alike, noting that more than 5 million Egyptians rely on Uber to get around.
He added that the company is proud of its significant impact on the Egyptian economy, having become a key contributor to creating economic opportunities: it provides work for more than 90,000 people every month, 40% of whom were previously unemployed. Referring to President Sisi's call to "get things done," he said: "That is exactly what we are doing."
He explained that Uber is investing $10 million in its customer service center, which employs 600 young Egyptians serving the Middle East and Africa, making it Uber's largest customer service center in the region.
He pointed out that Egypt faces problems of pollution, traffic congestion and street parking, with 11 million cars on the roads. "Through Uber, we aim to reduce how much customers use their own cars, so your phone becomes your car," he said, noting that the service is expanding to include Uber Scooter, offering motorcycle rides that give customers more freedom of movement.
Khosrowshahi also announced the launch of Uber Lite, a lightweight version of the app that takes up less storage on mobile phones. It works on all types of phones and across different Android versions to make it accessible to every customer, and it can run on slow internet connections.
Uber's CEO also said the company started in 2010 to answer a simple question: how can you request a ride at the push of a button? "After expanding to more than 60 cities around the world, we passed 10 billion trips last June," he said.
He continued: "We are always thinking about what the cities of the future will look like. That is why we recently took the initiative to become more than just a ridesharing company, diversifying the transport options available to customers to make life easier without needing to own a car."
For her part, Dr. Sahar Nasr, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation, welcomed Uber's launch of more new services in Egypt, saying it shows that Egypt's investment climate is attractive. She invited Uber's CEO to visit Sharm El-Sheikh, adding that his first visit to Egypt was long overdue.
Nasr said the expansion of Uber's investments embodies President Sisi's vision of delivering the best possible services to citizens in both cities and villages. She noted that the new information technology law helps move the informal sector into the formal economy, generating more tax revenue for the state.
She stressed that easy, safe point-to-point transport in any country supports economic growth, since any new investment looks for ease of mobility.
"My children use Uber," the investment minister said, adding that the difficulty of parking in Egypt has become one of the main reasons for the app's widespread use, not just the quality of the service, and that it also serves tourism.
Abdellatif Waked, Uber's regional general manager for Egypt, the Middle East and North Africa, said Uber is constantly developing the app to make it easier for riders. With just four taps, you can request a car and set your destination, as the app now detects your location automatically without the customer having to enter it, and suggests destinations as soon as you type the first few letters. Map quality has also been improved for greater accuracy. He noted that the Uber app does not take up much space on any phone and works even on the weakest internet connection.
