News
Latest news and headlines about the tech industry, startup scene, creative work, advertising, and marketing from across the middle east and north Africa.
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Fintech Startup ‘Sympl’ Raises Its First Funding Round
Cairo-based startup ‘Sympl’ has raised the first funding round from A15 with a regional focus. This first investment marks the…
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Snap to launch Creator Studio in Riyadh
Snap Inc. has announced that it will launch a Creator Studio in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2022 to support its highly…
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71% of parents in Saudi Arabia are on Snapchat
Snapchat is not only the platform of choice of Millennial and Gen Z audiences in Saudi Arabia but also incredibly…
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Wuzzuf’s Ameer Sherif Steps Down as CEO, Buckles Up for ITIDA
BasharSoft the parent company of “Wuzzuf and Forasna” recruitment platforms, has announced that the founder, Ameer Sherif has stepped down…
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Snap launches ‘Open Your Snapchat’ in UAE, Saudi Arabia
Snap Inc. recently kicked off its new B2B global marketing campaign, ‘Open Your Snapchat’, in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, showcasing…
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Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Ads Manager Go Down
The Facebook Family “WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Ads Manager, Workplace and Facebook” have all gone down in a major outage globally.…
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Digital Boom secures $20,000 seed investment
We would like to announce that we’ve received US $20,000 in seed investment from family and friends. The investment will…
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Vodafone renews its relationship with Facebook’s Workplace
Workplace by Facebook will continue to help Vodafone bridge the distance between 90,000+ employees over the next 3 years. Thanks…
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Jordan to activate digital identity for citizens in days
The digital identity program for Jordanian citizens will roll out in the coming few days. Said Jordan’s Minister of Digital Economy…
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Gifts Delivery Startup ‘Floward’ Launches in Egypt
For starters, Floward launched its operations in Cairo only and will gradually expand to other cities and regions within the…
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Facebook accredits Tribe X as Preferred Partner Agency
Tribe X, a pioneering digital marketing agency based in the United Arab Emirates with offices in Netherlands and Egypt, has…
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Nawy raises Seven-Figure investment led by Sawiris family
Cairo-based PropTech startup Nawy has raised an oversubscribed seven-figure Seed round led by the Sawiris family office. Also participating in…
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Google Cloud fires Amr Awadallah after ‘anti-jews backlash’
Google Cloud has fired Amr Awadallah, VP of developer after “Internal Criticism” following his June 13th article on LinkedIn titled…
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FasterCapital Launches Startup Program To Support Women Entrepreneurs
FasterCapital, an online incubator and accelerator based in Dubai, is launching a cohort for women entrepreneurs. Recent statistics reveal that…
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Tribal Credit Raises $34.3 Million to Support SMEs in Emerging Markets
Tribal Credit, a payment fintech specially designed for small and medium-sized businesses in emerging markets, announced today closing a combined…
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Stripe “online payment” expands to Middle East with Dubai office
Online payments giant Stripe announced opening an office in the United Arab Emirates financial capital Dubai, its first expansion into…
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Saudi Startup Lendo Secures $7.2 Million in Series A
Riyadh-based fintech firm Lendo has successfully secured $7.2 million in a Series A funding round, as announced today. The round,…
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Exclusive: Egyptian Fintech Startup NowPay Joins Y Combinator
Cairo-based fintech startup NowPay has joined Y Combinator’s Winter 21 batch, following a Memorandum of Understanding agreement with the Export…
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Egyptian Fintech Dayra Joins Y Combinator, Secures US $3M in Pre-Seed
Dayra is a Cairo-based fintech startup providing unbanked gig-workers and micro-businesses with financial services. The company has joined Y Combinator’s…
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Egypt’s financial wellness startup NowPay signs MoU with Export Development Bank of Egypt
Egyptian fintech startup NowPay signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Export Development Bank of Egypt (EBE) for a credit facility…
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OPEC Fund extends $50m for poverty reduction in Tanzania
The OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund) has signed a US$50 million loan with Tanzania to finance the ‘Fourth…
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XPLOR Secures $3M Seed funding from Ayana Holding
XPLOR, the 3D tech, digital twin, and master planning software, has raised a seed fund of US $3 million from…
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Google Ads: Target Audience Explained
Google Ads is one of the most popular advertising platforms worldwide. Through Google Ads, you can reach your target persona…
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Top Jordanian Resin Artists to Follow on Instagram
Resin art in Jordan has evolved during the covid-19 lockdown – and, in some instances, even global standards. Today, many…
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Financial Identities’ Cassbana Raises 6 Digits USD
Cassbana, a financial identities’ startup, announced raising a pre-seed round of 6 digits USD to revolutionize the financial service industry in…
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Etisalat hosts Israel-based i24NEWS channels
In a press release today, Etisalat set to normalize with Israel as the company announced the launch of Israel-based network…
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Google Servers Back Online After 45 Minutes
Google servers are now back online after 45 minutes. Please expect some delays and lags. The majority of Google services…
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BREAKING: Google Analytics is Down
We have previously reported that Google WorkSpace, Youtube, Google Adsense, and some Google Search features are also down. The Story…
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BREAKING: Youtube is Down
We can confirm Youtube and related services are also down. We have reported earlier that Google Workspace services are also…
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BREAKING: Google Workspace is DOWN
While there are still no official announcements at the time of posting, we can report that almost all Google Workspace…
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Almost all Google services including Youtube go down, globally
Almost all Google services went down globally on 12:00 PM GMT, Google Business Suite including Email, Meets, Calendar, Drive, etc.…
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LCP Fund II acquires significant minority stake in Dsquares & Lucky
As its first investment in the market, Lorax Capital Partners Fund II has announced today that it has acquired a…
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FinTech Ripple Chooses Dubai International Financial Center for Regional Headquarters
Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), announced that Ripple, the enterprise blockchain solution for global payments, has established its regional headquarters…
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Foundation Ventures powers up with 4 new investments
Cairo – Foundation Ventures (FV) is a regional venture capital firm founded in 2019 and is managed by Mazen Nadim,…
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StartEgypt Hosts First Female Founders Forum
The pre-acceleration program, StartEgypt, hosted its first virtual forum for female entrepreneurs, the Female Founders Forum. The one-day virtual event…
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Comscore study: increase in corporate credit card demand
Comscore’s white paper “The COVID-19 Impact on Small Business Credit Card Applications in 2020” revealed that small business card application…
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Twitter Down: Users report worldwide, Tweets not loading
Having trouble accessing your Twitter account? You’re not alone! Users from all around the world have reported Twitter login outage…
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NowPay Raises US$2.1 Million in Seed Investment
Cairo-based FinTech startup NowPay, a financial-wellness platform for employees in emerging markets, has announced today that the company has raised…
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Cairo-based Last-mile Delivery Startup ‘dreevo’ Raises 6 Digits USD Figure
dreevo, a last-mile delivery-focused startup has raised 6 digits USD figure in a bootstrap, pre-seed fund from EF Logistics, a…
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Tribal Credit Takes Juniper Research’s Best B2B Payment Platform Gold Award
US-based fintech Tribal Credit has won Juniper Research’s Best B2B Payment Platform Gold Award, recognizing its efforts in helping startups…
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Facebook Launches ‘#LoveLocal’ campaign to support local businesses in MENA
Facebook has launched a new initiative to offer digital support to local small and medium businesses in the MENA region,…
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Mexico’s Auto-parts Startup ‘RIGS’ Teams Up With Tribal Credit
The auto parts market in Mexico has seen tremendous growth over the past five years, redefining how the automotive industry…
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Facebook Clones TikTok, Introduces Instagram Reels
Facebook announced early last month the launch of Instagram Reels: a clone of TikTok videos, describing it as a new…
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SellAnyCar.com Expands into Saudi Arabia
SellAnyCar.com, the UAE pioneer and leader in online auto marketplaces for used car sales, announced today it is expanding into…
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Snap celebrates its unique community in its first ever B2B marketing campaign
Snap launched its first brand-facing marketing campaign under ‘Meet the Snapchat Generation’, targeting marketers and advertisers across the region. Celebrating…
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Amr Diab Returns to Drama in Netflix Arabic Original Series
The Egyptian superstar and singing legend Amr Diab will return to acting with an original Arabic series on Netflix. The…
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60% of Arab users prefer using emojis over words to express emotions
Viber, owned by the Japanese company, Rakuten, and one of the world’s leading apps for free and easy communication, conducted…
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Small business owners optimistic about economic recovery post-COVID
In partnership with the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Facebook published the Global State…
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Egyptian Professionals Network (EPN) joins the Facebook Community Accelerator Program
Facebook has announced today that the Egyptian Professionals Network (EPN) has joined the 2020 cycle of the Community Accelerator program,…
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Egyptian Social Media Stirs Countless Rape, Harassment, Blackmail Allegations
On the night of June 30th, 2020, Two instagram accounts (@shadynoor_ and @skhodirr ) started a PSA accusing an ex…
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Viber cuts business ties with Facebook
Japanese owned Rakuten Viber, one of the world’s leading messaging apps for free and secure communication, announces it will cut…
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Demand for Arabic chatbots surges in H1-2020 amid COVID-19, WideBot data shows
Egyptian chatbot startup WideBot witnessed a surge of Arabic chatbot building requests during the first half of 2020, amounting to…
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Egypt’s health ministry launches blood donation campaign in cooperation with Facebook
Egyptian Minister of Health, Dr. Hala Zayed, has announced that the ministry’s National Blood Transfusion Service is teaming up with…
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Fintech giant ‘Brex’ lays off 62 of staff despite raising $150M
Brex founders Pedro Franceschi and Henrique Dubugras wrote in a blog post published yesterday that 62 people would be let go.…
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Tribal Credit Joins Visa’s Fintech Fast Track to Bridge Equity Gap for MENA Startups
US-based startup Tribal Credit, which raised $9.1 million in a series of seed rounds, announced that it had joined Visa’s…
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Facebook introduces new distribution metric
Yesterday, Facebook released a new metric called “distribution score” to measure the performance of Facebook pages. The company defined the…
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Best Startup Incubators in the UAE 2020
Startup incubators in the UAE are an integral part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Even for the most experienced of campaigners,…
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Netflix MENA’s Twitter Account Hacked
Netflix MENA’s Twitter account has been hacked early today, the hacker replaced Netflix’s profile photo and pinned a tweet confirmed…
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Why Facebook Blocks Coronavirus News Stories?
Yesterday, Facebook users complained that links to news stories and information related to the coronavirus outbreak were blocked by the…
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Trade Bank of Iraq Donates $5M to Iraqi Ministry of Health to help Combat Coronavirus
Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI), today announced US $5 million in funding to support the Iraqi Ministry of Health’s efforts…
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Online Learning Platform Abwaab Raises 2.4M in Seed Funding
Abwaab, MENA’s latest online learning platform, today announces the closing of its $2.4M pre-seed funding round. The round was kicked…
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Jordan declared free of Coronavirus
Jordanian citizen who was tested positive Covid-19 has been declared healthy today and released from quarantine in Amman, which means that…
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Amazon now delivers to Palestine following boycott campaign
Global e-commerce giant Amazon has added Palestine to its international shipping destinations in response to #BoycottAmazon Palestinians had to list…
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Dubai to benefit from 1M+ hotel room nights amid major business event wins
Dubai Business Events (DBE), the city’s official convention bureau, recorded a total of 301 successful bids for meetings, conferences, and…
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Orascom CEO Khaled Bichara Dies in Car Crash
Orascom Development CEO Khaled Bichara, 48, was killed Friday in a car crash in Giza, Egypt. Bichara, a father of…
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Saudi Telecom ‘STC’ reaches a deal with Vodafone Group to acquire its stake in Vodafone Egypt
Saudi Telecom Company (STC) has reached a deal with Vodafone Group to acquire its stake in Vodafone Egypt. Vodafone has…
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DAE signs new US$300 million 4-year unsecured term loan
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) Ltd. announced today that it has signed a US$300 million 4-year unsecured term loan with China…
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TikTok Assigns Egyptian Agency ‘Green Mind’ To Manage Its MENA’s YouTube Channel
TikTok has appointed Egyptian agency “Green Mind” to manage its YouTube channel in the Middle East and North Africa region.…
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‘The Mandalorian’ finale proved the series really is that good
“The Mandalorian” season 1 finale is out and, boy, does it give viewers of the Disney+ series something to saber…
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Gemini Enterprises Africa and RiseUp LLC join forces for Pyramids Plateau until 2022
Gemini Enterprises Africa, part of Orascom Group, and RiseUp LLC, the MENA region’s connector of startups to local and global…
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RiseUp kicks off its 7th edition at AUC New Cairo Campus
RiseUp Summit 2019, MENA’s leading entrepreneurship event, kicked off Thursday at the American University in Cairo (AUC) New Cairo Campus,…
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Silicon Valley’s Tribal Credit Raises $5.5M in Seed Funding to Bank Startups
Tribal Credit closed a $5.5 million Seed round led by BECO Capital and Global Ventures to bank startups in emerging…
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Macy’s, Kohl’s Cyber Monday 2019 Deals On Xbox One, Fitbit And Nike
Major retailers Macy’s and Kohl’s have continued their sales on Cyber Monday, offering slashed prices in various departments including women’s,…
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RiseUp selects 15 regional startup finalists for ‘Pitch by the Pyramids’
RiseUp has completed its selection of 15 startups from seven cities across the Middle East and North Africa to pitch…
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‘Boost with Facebook’ partners with RiseUp to bring digital skills training to Egyptian startups
Facebook announced on Tuesday its partnership with RiseUp to bring ‘Boost with Facebook’, its global program designed to help small…
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British Council reports high demand for ‘Primary Plus’ its English courses for children in Egypt
British Council, the United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations, says demand for Primary Plus—its English course…
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Brad Pitt Chases Stars in AD Astra – Review
Are there other life forms in space or is it just vast darkness? Space may never be fully discovered but…
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Silicon Valley’s Tribal Credit Eyes MENA, Closing Round to Bank Startups
Silicon Valley-based Tribal started private beta testing with MENA startups and is closing a funding round that includes some of…
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‘Vikings’ marks season finale with a blockbuster two-hour premiere
Vikings fans who have been eagerly waiting for the season finale will be delighted to know that the hit drama…
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What is ‘the cost of lies’? A review of Chernobyl HBO Miniseries
There are many parallels between today’s politics and the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear meltdown that caused worldwide shockwaves. Written and created…
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Career180 raises USD 100,000 seed fund from EdVentures
Career180, a centralized and comprehensive career advising platform in Egypt that aims to qualify youth to the job market, has…
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What to Watch on Netflix? A round-up of our favorite shows
With plenty of TV shows, movies and documentaries to explore on Netflix, you might end up in choice paralysis—scrolling endlessly…
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Good People, Kijamii partner to form ‘GP&K’ digital driven network
Good People, the region’s leading creative production house, joined forces with the region’s leading digital agency and 2019’s Independent-Agency-of-the-Year, Kijamii, to form…
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Misr Italia Properties Pumps EGP 22 billion Investments in IL Bosco City ‘The City of Nature’
Misr Italia Properties’ (MIP) kicked off its latest EGP 22 billion worth state-of-the-art real estate project, providing New Cairenes with…
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Egypt’s NowPay Raises $600k from Endure Capital, 500 Startups
Egyptian fintech startup, NowPay, said it’s closing a new undisclosed round after raising USD 600,000 in Seed funding from Silicon…
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Match Group Acquires Egyptian Dating Startup ‘Harmonica’
Online dating giant Match Group has acquired “Harmonica”, an Egyptian online dating startup. Financial details were not disclosed. Announced Flat6Labs…
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Google to Hire Cairo-Based Team
Google plans to hire a team for its Cairo office, seeking to expand its business in Egypt and implement new…
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Facebook Announces Cryptocurrency ‘Libra’, Digital Wallet ‘Calibra’
Yesterday, Facebook has shared plans for Calibra, a digital wallet for Libra, a new global currency powered by blockchain technology.…
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Egyptian Startup Mumm Launches ‘Mumm Prime’ Egypt’s First Premium Chef
Egypt’s homemade food service Mumm has launched “Mumm Prime”, Egypt’s premium online chef subscription service on Sunday. For an affordable…
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Egypt’s Direxiona wins 50,000 euro-prize in AFD Digital Challenge
Egypt’s Direxiona matching platform for women drivers and instructors has won the first prize in the AFD Digital Challenge competition…
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Truth behind Facebook collecting sales tax on ads sold in Egypt
Rumors spread in Egypt in the last 24 hours that Facebook and Instagram will begin collecting tax for advertisements purchased…
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What Can a Digital Commerce Company Do For You?
In today’s market, just graduating from college is a success to celebrate. Many people sit around and wonder what they…
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EG.GD new URL shortener, offers Pro accounts for FREE ‘first 2000 Users’
Since Egypt’s attempt to ban bitly service this month, Egyptian digital marketers are more cautious about using the international service…
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Why Access Management Matters In This Day and Age
Access management can be accurately described as a holistic way of managing a secure interaction within a specified system. By…
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Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp go down for thousands of users
Thousands of users from all around the world are unable to access Facebook apps (Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram). Facebook…
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Tidbits from 2018 State of Social Video Report ‘Egypt Edition’
We analyzed over 43,000 videos generating over 7 billion views in 2018. Can you guess what worked and what didn’t…
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CIB, EgyptAir make every mile counts for budget travelers
Overseas travel expenses are on the rise. But Egyptians can still do some adventures without breaking the bank. Commercial International…
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Snap Inc. Unveils ‘Snap Games’
Snap Inc. unveiled Snap Games — an all-new real-time multiplayer gaming platform featuring original and third-party games from Game Closure, PikPok,…
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Brimore, retail distribution platform, raises $800k in seed funding
Brimore, the direct-selling distribution platform that connects manufacturers with consumers, announced that it has raised $800k in a seed funding…
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What You Need To Know About Notarizing A Document
Important legal documents often need to be notarized, but very few people know what that actually means. As such, they…
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