For the fourth year in a row, the Egyptian government-led agency Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA) is holding the Turathna (Our Heritage) Exhibition for handicrafts, and Amazon as usual is actively taking part in. So Amwal Al Ghad English has had had a good talk with Mr. Ahmed El-Sobky, Head of Amazon Egypt Marketplace, on the sidelines of the Turathna Exhibition.
Being bullish on the Egyptian economy, El-Sobky emphasised Amazon’s firm belief in the Egyptian economy’s potentials despite ongoing challenges due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and its impact on the whole world.
“The Egyptian economy is very resilient. I think despite some challenges in place, there are much more opportunities for sellers to grow. We are seeing very positive growth this year.” El-Sobky said.
“So, we believe there are some challenges but there are much more opportunities and we are optimistic about the Egyptian economy and the potential to grow in the Egyptian market.”
Empowering SMEs
At Turathna, he said Amazon is launching Support Egyptian Product Store, a fully-dedicated store for Egyptian brands. It is a curation of tens of thousands of Egyptian products selling on Amazon.eg, making it much easier for millions of customers across Egypt to find products from Egyptian small and midsize business (SMB).
The launch aligns with the Egyptian government’s agenda to support local businesses and contributes to the digitisation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), El-Sobky added.
“SMEs are cornerstone in our strategic priorities and we always strive to enable SMEs wherever the country we operate in,” he said.
“SMEs are the backbone of the Egyptian economy, and we invest and enable them to sell throughout Egypt and in the near future to sell their products outside Egypt through Amazon.”
Earlier this year, Amazon Egypt signed a memorandum of understanding with MSMEDA to find ways to develop the capabilities and competencies of SMBs to grow their business online and to promote the richness of local products.
El-Sobky further said Amazon Egypt has plans to expand its collaboration with MSMEDA to reach handicraft manufacturers and small manufacturers throughout the country. The company participates in MSMEDA-organised tours to villages nationwide to meet handicraft manufacturers and enable them to list and sell their products online through Amazon.eg.
Speaking about Amazon’s role in supporting Egypt’s digitisation transformation, El-Sobky said selling on Amazon.eg unlocks a powerful and proven economic engine for SMEs in line with the country’s 2030 Vision.
In very simple steps, free of charges, and within a couple of days, any seller can open his/her online brand store through Amazon, do the marketing, create a brand awareness and list the products, he explained.
“As a selling partner in Amazon, there is nothing you need to invest in order to have a store at Amazon. That is how we help the digitisation transformation.”
“We have many successful stories of medium and small businesses that created their brands through Amazon.”
Making the online selling journey on Amazon much more informative and richer, El-Sobky said Amazon Egypt has a Seller University, which is a free training videos platform, created to help SMBs learn to sell on Amazon, create product listings, and master the key tools and applications.
It also includes videos that would help you in understanding product rules and restrictions, learn about FBA, advertising, promotions, and more, he added.
Speaking about expansion plans, El-Sobky stated that Amazon Egypt already has 22 delivery stations throughout the country and is planning to reach 24 by the end of the current year.
“… we are in the process of expanding even more in the upcoming months in order to reach and be able to reach all customers throughout Egypt.”
“Egypt is a priority market for us and we continue to invest in Egypt …” he asserted.
Amwal Al Ghad English has had had a good talk with Mr. Ahmed El-Sobky, Head of Amazon Egypt Marketplace, on the sidelines of the Turathna Exhibition.
