“TelTalk” Exports its Services in 5 Languages from Egypt to its Clients in America and Canada

“TelTalk” for outsourcing services aims to increase its workforce to 5,000 employees by 2027.

Mohamed Moqbbel, the company’s CEO, stated that the Egyptian market is competitive due to lower costs when exporting services, in addition to a broad base of young people who are trainable to work in the industry.

Moqbbel believes that Egypt has an opportunity to be among the top 3 destinations for service outsourcing by 2030.

Ta3heed: When was “TelTalk” founded? And what is its activity?

Mohamed Moqbbel: The company was founded about 12 months ago and operates in the field of business process outsourcing (BPO) services. We are currently present in the American and Canadian markets and have contracts with 42 clients in both.

“TelTalk” is a fully Egyptian company, and there are no foreign investors in its ownership structure.

Ta3heed: From which sectors are your clients?

Mohamed Moqbbel: The sectors the company generally works with the most are marketing and technology.

Ta3heed: Why was Egypt chosen as the center for the company’s operations?

Mohamed Moqbbel: The Egyptian political leadership gives tangible support to the outsourcing services industry.

Additionally, labor costs in Egypt are 70% cheaper than in the American and Canadian markets and more efficient.

Ta3heed: In which languages does the company provide BPO services?

Mohamed Moqbbel: We provide BPO services in 5 languages: English, Arabic, German, French, and Italian.

Ta3heed: What is the number of employee seats within the company?

Mohamed Moqbbel: 500 seats provide services to the American and Canadian markets.

Ta3heed: Where is the company located in Egypt?

Mohamed Moqbbel: We provide our services from the company’s center in the Maadi area, and we plan to open a main center in the Fifth Settlement area. We also intend to have a presence in Alexandria.

Ta3heed: When will the company start implementing its future expansion plan?

Mohamed Moqbbel: “TelTalk” is preparing to open two offices in the Fifth Settlement and Alexandria during next May.

Ta3heed: What is the capacity of the new headquarters in the Fifth Settlement and Alexandria?

Mohamed Moqbbel: About a thousand employees.

Moqbbel: We aim to increase the number of the company’s employees to 5,000 in 2027.

Ta3heed: How can outsourcing service companies benefit from the global trade war and attract global entities in the industry to Egypt?

Mohamed Moqbbel: India and China dominate Southeast Asian countries with competitive prices, while Egypt is working to upgrade, improve, and develop the quality of human resources working in its industry.

At the same time, most American and Canadian companies do not prefer using Indian and Mexican personnel in outsourcing their services due to language difficulties, unlike Egyptians who possess skills and speak foreign languages fluently.

Ta3heed: How does “TelTalk” view the Egyptian market?

Mohamed Moqbbel: Egypt is a large market with many growth drivers for the outsourcing industry due to the broad base of trainable young people, in addition to significant development in technological infrastructure.

We are currently negotiating with 6 Egyptian entities operating in the information technology sector to help them promote their services and products in the American and Canadian markets.

Ta3heed: What are the company’s targets in increasing the number of seats and clients and adding new languages?

Mohamed Moqbbel: The company aims to reach 5,000 seats by the end of 2027, and 500 clients from the American and Canadian markets, in addition to expanding into the Gulf region and contracting with 50 entities there.

Al-Mal: Which countries does the company aim to focus on in the Arabian Gulf?

Mohamed Moqbbel: Saudi Arabia and the UAE, followed by Bahrain and Iraq, especially since the latter is a promising country in achieving strong growth rates.

Ta3heed: How does the company prioritize investing in the development of human resources?

Mohamed Moqbbel: We work on training and qualifying the human resources that join the company to provide our services with the best quality.

Employees are also granted good salaries, as they are calculated at a rate of $6 per working hour, which is the highest rate in the market.

We also work with specialized training and recruitment companies to raise the efficiency of our human resources.

Moqbbel: Egypt will be among the top 3 destinations for outsourcing services in 2030.

Ta3heed: Can it be said that global companies providing their services from Egypt now have complete confidence in local human resources?

Mohamed Moqbbel: Certainly not 100%, but if we assume there are 100 people, 60 of them trust the skills of Egyptians as long as there are tangible positive results on the ground.

Ta3heed: Is the leadership of the outsourcing services industry heading towards Egypt at the expense of India and the Philippines?

Mohamed Moqbbel: Of course, this is expected to happen. By 2030, Egypt will be among the top three countries in the industry.

Ta3heed: Egypt has a broad base of university graduates, but some of them are not suitable for outsourcing service jobs. Can universities have content to serve the labor market, or do we need to establish applied schools?

Mohamed Moqbbel: We must start with universities.

Therefore, we have held discussions with Cairo University to train graduates and develop their foreign language skills.

However, the students’ trainer should be one of the outsourcing company’s personnel, not a university faculty member.

Ta3heed: You mentioned Cairo University Company… What is this company?

Mohamed Moqbbel: Cairo University has indeed been approved to establish a company under the name “Cairo University Company,” which is currently under establishment.

This is because the law does not allow the private sector to enter into direct partnerships with government entities.

By establishing university companies, they can cooperate with the private sector better and more effectively.

Ta3heed: What does Egypt need to achieve the targeted goal of digital exports?

Mohamed Moqbbel: Egypt faces a significant challenge in the availability of trained human resources suitable for the outsourcing industry, as the youth currently ready to enter the industry do not meet its needs.

We need the political leadership to direct the government to qualify university youth in a way that serves the outsourcing industry, given that increasing Egypt’s digital exports is a national goal.

Foreign languages should also be taught to young people in universities as a practiced language, not just as an academic subject.

Ta3heed: What are the challenges you face as a company providing outsourcing services in Egypt?

Mohamed Moqbbel: There are several challenges facing the industry, including the difficulty and time-consuming nature of banking procedures, which are unfortunately heavily controlled by bureaucracy.

Ta3heed: How does the company deal with imports of industry-related devices and equipment?

Mohamed Moqbbel: Unfortunately, there is a significant challenge in obtaining customs clearance for equipment and devices imported from abroad, which are considered one of the basics of the outsourcing industry in Egypt.

The process of releasing devices takes a long time, which affects the company’s contracts and work, given the agreement with clients on specific start times. This affects Egypt’s reputation as a destination for the outsourcing industry.

Ta3heed: How does the company deal with the fluctuation of the dollar exchange rate in its contracts?

Mohamed Moqbbel: Most of the company’s clients are from outside Egypt, so there is no direct impact on the cost of providing the service.

Ta3heed: Do you rely on artificial intelligence in your work?

Mohamed Moqbbel: Recently, we launched a technology solution based on artificial intelligence that helps companies manage the human resources sector more easily and intelligently.

This solution helps improve employee efficiency and manage the human resources sector by 80% in terms of time and about 95% in terms of cost.

Ta3heed: Do you have a plan to open a center in the technology zones?

Mohamed Moqbbel: We have a future plan to be present in the technology zones, and we also plan for our main headquarters in Cairo to be in the Smart Village.

We are also studying the presence of one of our centers in the New Administrative Capital. Currently, we have cooperation with the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC) of ITIDA to support emerging companies in the field of artificial intelligence, which supports the services we provide.”