Photos: Egypt follows Bangalore's offshore lead

At the heart of Egypt's offshore push is a new "Smart Village" on the outskirts of Cairo that is home to some of the country's leading high-tech and call centre companies such as Xceed. Microsoft also has a campus building here as does the Egyptian ministry of ICT.

As with Bangalore in India, the ultra-modern Smart Village is a world away from the Cairo that most Egyptians are familiar with and workers are bussed in for their shifts in the call centres from locations around the city.

The gradual privatisation of telecoms in Egypt has given operations like this the ability to compete in the international market. Xceed has grown from zero staff to 1,000 in just two years and is predicting to reach a headcount of 1,400 by the end of this year.

Photo: Andy McCue