LEGISLATION WATCH- Proposed law will regulate e-commerce: As we suggested last month would be the case, the Madbouly government is moving to regulate e-commerce, with the ICT Ministry currently drafting a law for the sector, said MP Mohamed Hegazi, chair of the House ICT Committee, according to AMAY. Hegazi, who spoke during a conference on internet user data privacy, gave no meaningful detail on the law, but it’s not the first time we’ve heard of it. House Industry Committee member Ali El Kayal presented a draft law on the subject to the House of Representatives last December. We assume this is the very same act, with the ministry tweaking some aspects of it. It was noted in the local press back then that the law was primarily concerned with establishing a tax framework for the industry. Government sources told us last month that the Finance Ministry was looking to impose a VAT on e-commerce.

Online retailer are lining up to influence the drafting of the rules. Some of the largest e-commerce platforms operating in Egypt, among them Jumia and Amazon subsidiary Souq.com have (at least publicly) expressed support for the tax grab.