Egypt - National AI Strategy 2025-2030 and Trustworthy AI Guidelines

Egypt ranks first in Africa in the Oxford Insights Government AI Readiness Index and has adopted a two-part governance approach: the second edition of its National AI Strategy (2025-2030) and the National Guidelines for Trustworthy and Responsible AI, published in March 2026 by the Egyptian Center for Responsible AI (ECRAI) under the supervision of the National Council for Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing and Emerging Technologies (NCAI). The strategy rests on six pillars (governance, technology, data, ICT and AI infrastructure, ecosystem, talent) with 21 initiatives, including Arabic large language models, and targets a 7.7 percent ICT contribution to GDP, 30,000 trained AI experts and more than 250 AI companies by 2030.

The guidelines apply to all actors in the AI ecosystem, classified as government, enterprise or community, acting as provider-developer or beneficiary-user. They are structured around four pillars: institutional governance (mandatory Chief AI Officer or AI governance committee, risk-tiered AI system inventory from Tier 1 to Tier 4, workforce training), AI lifecycle governance (design documentation, bias and data-quality evaluation, TEVV pre-deployment testing, post-deployment monitoring and audits, with HITL, HOTL or HOOTL human-oversight models chosen by risk level), stakeholder engagement (complaint and redress channels, responsible vulnerability disclosure) and society and sustainability (protection of minors, cultural alignment, frugal AI and environmental impact assessment). A self-assessment tool scores organisational readiness out of 100 and AI system trustworthiness out of 380, and regulatory sandboxes aligned with OECD, ISO and ITU standards allow controlled testing. Privacy by design and strict conformity with the PDPL (Law No. 151 of 2020) are required throughout.