Egypt Ranks First in North Africa 2025 Global Startup Ecosystem Index

Egypt ranked 65th globally in the 2025 Global Startup Ecosystem Index, leading North Africa and placing third in Africa. The index assessed 118 countries and 1,473 cities in 2025 using more than 40 criteria across quantity, quality and business environment, drawing on data from Statista, Crunchbase and StartupBlink.

Egypt advanced 16 positions over five years from 81st in 2020 to 65th in 2025, with its score rising from 0.358 to 2.132 points. The report stated that Egypt maintained its lead in North Africa since 2021 and recorded the second-highest growth rate in the region in 2025. Egypt also ranked 45th globally for e-commerce and retail in 2025.

Cairo ranked 90th worldwide among 1,473 cities in 2025, up from entering the top 100 at 97th in 2024. The city hosts around 510 startups, approximately 90% of Egypt’s total, including 96 in e-commerce and retail in 2025. Cairo remained second in Africa since 2023 and first in North Africa since 2020, and in 2024 it led Africa in sectors such as food technology, transport, software and data, and marketing and sales. Alexandria ranked 669th globally in 2025, re-entering the global rankings after dropping out in 2022 and 2023. It is the second-ranked startup environment in Egypt, with 21 startups, about 4% of the national total, including nine in software and data in 2025.

The report also listed recent ecosystem measures, including the establishment of the Egypt Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in June 2023, a startup unit at the investment authority in 2024 with an online platform, the launch of the golden licence platform in November 2023, and the introduction of online company incorporation services in 2023. It referenced Law 152 of 2020 on micro, small and medium enterprises and noted that StartupBlink identified 563 prominent startups in Egypt in 2025.