Egypt: technology regulation at a glance

Framework: Central Bank and Banking System Law No. 194 of 2020, Article 206, enforced by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE); supplementary AML/CFT framework under Law No. 80 of 2002 (as amended by Prime Ministerial Decree No. 3331/2023) administered by the Egyptian Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Combating Unit (EMLCU)

Egypt prohibits issuing, trading, promoting, or operating platforms for cryptocurrencies/virtual assets without prior CBE authorization under Article 206 of Law 194/2020, and the CBE has never granted such a license, resulting in a de facto total ban. The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has repeatedly warned the public against crypto investment, and Dar al-Ifta (the Grand Mufti) issued a fatwa in December 2017 declaring cryptocurrencies haram. The CBE is instead piloting a sovereign Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC/E-Pound) as part of a 2024–2030 roadmap.

Framework: National AI Governance Framework (March 2026) issued by the National Council for Artificial Intelligence (NCAI) and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), built on the National AI Strategy (2025–2030) and the Egyptian Charter for Responsible AI (2023); a binding Draft AI Law is pending. The Personal Data Protection Law No. 151 of 2020 (PDPL) governs personal data used in AI.

Egypt does not yet have a binding, AI-specific statute in force; governance rests on a suite of voluntary instruments coordinated by the NCAI/MCIT — chiefly the National AI Strategy (2025–2030), the 2023 Egyptian Charter for Responsible AI, and the March 2026 National AI Governance Framework, which introduces a four-tier risk model modelled loosely on international standards (UNESCO, OECD, EU AI Act, G7 Hiroshima Process). A Draft Artificial Intelligence Law is under consultation and expected to move through parliament, while personal data used in AI systems is already regulated by the PDPL (Law 151/2020) and its 2025 Executive Regulations.

Framework: Personal Data Protection Law No. 151 of 2020 (PDPL), supplemented by Executive Regulations issued via Prime Ministerial/MCIT Decree No. 816 of 2025 (1 November 2025); supervised by the Personal Data Protection Center (PDPC) under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT).

Egypt has a comprehensive, GDPR-inspired personal data protection regime in force. Law No. 151 of 2020 was enacted on 13 July 2020 and took effect on 14 October 2020, but remained largely unenforceable until the long-awaited Executive Regulations (Decree 816/2025) were issued on 1 November 2025 and the Personal Data Protection Center (PDPC) was operationalised. In-scope controllers and processors have a one-year grace period to achieve full compliance by 31 October / 1 November 2026.

Framework: Central Bank & Banking System Law No. 194 of 2020 (CBE) for payments/e-money, with detailed PSO/PSP licensing rules issued June 2025; plus Non-Banking Financial Technology Law No. 5 of 2022 (Financial Regulatory Authority) for consumer-finance/BNPL fintech.

Egypt operates a clear, in-force licensing regime for digital payments and fintech split across two regulators. The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) licenses payment system operators (PSOs), payment service providers (PSPs) and e-money/mobile-wallet issuers under Banking Law No. 194 of 2020, with comprehensive licensing rules issued in June 2025, while the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) licenses non-banking fintech including consumer-finance/BNPL platforms under Law No. 5 of 2022. National instant-payment rails (the IPN, accessed via InstaPay) and the domestic Meeza card scheme are live and CBE-operated.

Framework: Egypt has no dedicated digital-nomad visa. Foreigners rely on general residency and long-stay entry rules under Law No. 89 of 1960 on Entry and Residence of Foreigners (as amended) and Law No. 26 of 1975 on Nationality, administered by the Ministry of Interior's Passports, Immigration and Nationality Administration (PENA). Recent additions include the five-year multiple-entry visa (Minister of Interior Decision No. 1919 of 2025) and the citizenship-by-investment framework under Law No. 190 of 2019.

Egypt does not offer a purpose-built digital-nomad visa; remote workers instead use adjacent routes such as the 5-year multiple-entry visa (now allowing up to 180 days per stay) and the property-ownership residence permit tied to foreign real-estate investment. Foreigners working locally still technically require a Ministry of Manpower work permit, and the legal position of foreign freelancers/self-employed is not clearly codified. Egypt also runs a citizenship-by-investment program under Law 190/2019, but no framework specifically endorses onshore remote work for a foreign employer.

Framework: Anti-Cyber and Information Technology Crimes Law No. 175/2018 and Press, Media and Supreme Council for Media Regulation Law No. 180/2018, enforced by the Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR) and the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA); Personal Data Protection Law No. 151/2020 (Executive Regulations issued Nov 2025) covers children's data.

Egypt regulates the online sphere through a pair of 2018 laws that criminalize a broad range of online speech and expressly authorize website blocking on national-security, public-order and 'false news' grounds, backed by 180-day data-retention mandates on ISPs. The regime is used to block hundreds of news, human-rights and circumvention sites and to license social-media accounts with >5,000 followers as media outlets; independent monitors (Freedom House, RSF, CIHRS) classify Egypt's internet environment as 'not free' and heavily censored. A separate 2020 data-protection law (with Executive Regulations issued Nov 2025) imposes guardian-consent requirements for processing children's data.

Framework: Layered regime: Anti-Cyber and Information Technology Crimes Law No. 175/2018 (cybercrime + telecom/service-provider duties); Personal Data Protection Law No. 151/2020 with Executive Regulations No. 816/2025 (breach notification); Central Bank of Egypt Financial Cybersecurity Framework (EGY-FIN CSF, 2021) for banks; Telecommunications Regulation Law No. 10/2003 governing NTRA/EG-CERT; National Cybersecurity Strategy 2023–2027 overseen by the Supreme Council for Cybersecurity.

Egypt has no single NIS2-style horizontal cybersecurity statute; instead it relies on a combination of a comprehensive cybercrime law (Law 175/2018), a data protection law with security and breach-reporting duties (Law 151/2020, now operational after 2025 executive regulations), and sector-specific frameworks — most notably the Central Bank's mandatory financial cybersecurity framework and NTRA/EG-CERT oversight of telecoms and critical information infrastructure. National direction is set by the Supreme Council for Cybersecurity and the 2023–2027 National Cybersecurity Strategy, and Egypt is ranked in ITU Global Cybersecurity Index Tier 1.

Framework: Investment Law No. 72 of 2017 and Companies Law No. 159 of 1981, administered by the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) through a one-stop-shop Investor Service Centre and the Digital Egypt Investment Licensing Platform.

Egypt broadly welcomes foreign investors and permits up to 100% foreign ownership of Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) and Joint Stock Companies (JSCs) in most sectors, with GAFI acting as a single-window incorporator that can deliver a memorandum of association, commercial register entry, tax card and social-security file within roughly one business day. However, several sectors carry ownership caps or Egyptian-partner requirements (importation for trade capped at 49% foreign shareholding, commercial agencies and media requiring majority-Egyptian ownership), foreign managers need security clearance and work/residence permits, and in practice bank-account opening, notarisations and sector licences add friction beyond the formal timeline.