Photos: Egypt follows Bangalore's offshore lead

Ancient Pharaohs and pyramids may be what Egypt is most famous for but the country is now making a charge to become the next high-tech offshore outsourcing hotspot for European and US multinationals looking for cheaper call centre and IT locations.

The country aims to compete with near-shore eastern European and far-shore southeast Asian destinations but will also have to fend off stiff competition from the likes of South Africa and closer neighbours such as Morocco which are also gearing up to try and grab a piece of the lucrative offshore outsourcing market.

AT Kearney already ranks Egypt as the 12th hottest place for offshore outsourcing and analyst Datamonitor predicts the country's currently tiny share of the market will grow by 52 per cent this year alone.

Photo: Andy McCue