Egypt and Mali are looking to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the ICT sector, drawing on the North African country's expertise in digital infrastructure and capacity building.
This follows a meeting between Egypt's minister of communications and information technology, Raafat Hendy, and Mali's minister of communication, digital economy and modernisation of the administration, Alhamdou Ag Ilyene.
Hendy set out Egypt's efforts to upgrade telecom infrastructure in rural villages under the Decent Life initiative, including fibre-to-the-home projects expected to benefit about 60 million people. Under the initiative, fibre-optic cables reached 783 villages in 2025.
He said the two countries could cooperate on fibre-optic network deployment by exchanging expertise and implementation plans, pointing to Egypt's recent domestic expansion, where fibre-optic connections reached 4.39 million homes in 2024, a 43.46% increase on 2023.
Hendy also highlighted opportunities in digital capacity building through training programmes the Egyptian African Telecom Regulatory Training Centre runs for African professionals throughout the year.
He outlined the main pillars of Egypt's National AI Strategy, along with the work of the Applied Innovation Centre in developing technology solutions and applications that address societal challenges and support development.
Ilyene affirmed Mali's commitment to developing its digital infrastructure to drive digital transformation, and said he valued Egypt's expertise in the ICT sector.
He said he was interested in expanding cooperation and drawing on Egypt's experience in digital transformation, digital infrastructure, institutional development and fibre-optic network deployment.
The two ministers also discussed ways to strengthen cooperation and share expertise in developing digital infrastructure, including networks and connectivity for government institutions. Egypt's own domestic rollout has extended connections to around 18,060 government facilities.
They discussed regional and international connectivity solutions that could support the modernisation of Mali's government administration and widen access to digital government services, and agreed to explore cooperation in artificial intelligence to improve government services, support development, and strengthen digital capabilities.
The two ministers agreed to begin technical discussions on drawing on Egypt's experience in creating digital platforms and delivering services to citizens, alongside cooperation in digital infrastructure, expertise sharing and capacity building, the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology said.
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