OLX launches initial phase of delivery service in Cairo and Giza
Online marketplace OLX has launched its delivery service in Egypt on its website and mobile application, making it the first platform to offer consumer-to-consumer e-commerce transactions in the country, according to a press release (pdf). OLX will contract couriers from courier companies, who will manage the logistics and provide both tracking and payment collection services for a predefined fee. In the initial phase of the service, OLX users in Cairo and Giza can buy and sell small and medium-sized products, but the platform plans to roll out the service in all governorates and offer shipping for heavier products, such as furniture, in upcoming phases.
E-commerce has been booming in Egypt, especially in the past year since the beginning of the pandemic. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE together accounted for some 80% of the MENA region’s USD 22 bn e-commerce sector in 2020, and expectations are that e-commerce in the region will continue growing this year by another 31%.
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- A new automatic signaling system will be installed on three railway lines in Egypt by next year, Transport Minister Kamel El Wazir said over the weekend (watch, runtime: 52:51), a week after a deadly train crash in Sohag Governorate killed 18 and injured 200. The government will contract Siemens, Thales Group, and Alstom to install the system, which the minister said should be finished in 2Q2022. The project will see signaling systems upgraded on the Cairo-Aswan line, Cairo-Alexandria line, and the line passing through Benha, Zagazig, Ismailia, and Port Said.