Cairo, Egypt – March 9, 2016: David Plouffe, Uber’s chief adviser and former campaign manager for Barack Obama in 2008, made his first visit to Cairo this month with Uber.
During his two-day visit, Plouffe had a number of meetings with key stakeholders as the ridesharing technology company works towards helping governments and organizations transition to an on-demand economy. He also attended Uber’s largest new driver training session at over 600 drivers.
“The sharing economy has a lot more profound economic value today than it did a few years ago”, Plouffe said at The Future Of Work: How Technology is Changing the Business Model fireside chat with Dr. Nagla Rizk, professor of economics and founding director of the Access to Knowledge for Development Center (A2K4D) at the School of Business, The American University in Cairo. “Cairo is Uber’s fastest growing city around the world,” Plouffe added. “We’re keen to engage with government bodies, NGOs and businesses, to intensify our partnerships with them and work towards creating a system to produce the economic output we all desire: more work for more people, reduce congestion and provide safer transportation.”
The American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Committee also hosted Plouffe in a chat with Naguib Sawiris, the Chairman and CEO of Orascom Telecom Media & Technology Holding.
“Innovative projects like Uber have made the lives of people easier, saving money, time and providing work. Governments should embrace innovation and technology, and address how they can be a part of it. We need to fast forward to the future and take advantage of the economic opportunity that will come out as a result,” stated Sawiris.
Uber has committed $250 million to the MENA region, a large portion of it to expansion in Egypt and to creating tens of thousands of jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities across the country. The technology platform creates over 2000 work opportunities for drivers each month in Egypt. Over 40% of the drivers had previously been unemployed prior to joining Uber. The number of female drivers joining the platform has also increased, having onboarded over 100 women in the last six months. .
During Plouffe’s visit, Uber Egypt launched the Uber Economic Empowerment Program, intended to provide wider members of the community, including youth and women, with the resources, education and training to eventually become Uber partner-drivers, entrepreneurs and small business owners. The program includes a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with Education For Employment|Egypt (EFE|Egypt) and with BPE Partners’ managed investment vehicle Arabiya for Investments and its subsidiaries (CDCM – Peugeot Egypt, UE Leasing and Rawaj Auto Loan.
About Uber MENA
Uber first arrived to region in late 2013, starting with Dubai and has since grown to extend its presence to Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Beirut, Casablanca, Dammam, Doha, Eastern Province, Manama, Istanbul, Jeddah, and Riyadh, demonstrating its commitment to the region, as well as its growing popularity.
