By Ahmad Gomaa says the mobile is poised to radically alter the way we shop. News Focus Achilles Heel The crisis in Greece, and the collapse of the euro, could scuttle Egypt’s plans for economic growth. River of Strife A new agreement among East African countries may spell the end of Egyptian control over the Nile . On the Block Foreign investors buy up African farmland, sparking fears of a new colonialism.

By Andrew Raven

D uring more than a decade in the venture capital game, Ahmad Gomaa has backed some of the country’s most innovative tech companies.

He was in on the ground floor with Otlob, the pioneering website that lets you order from restaurants across the country. He’s also backed Timeline Interactive, which has arguably become Egypt’s most successful video-game maker.

But Gomaa, who now manages a $50 million (LE 275 million) technology fund for investment bank EFG Hermes, wants you to know those companies aren’t outliers. The country, he says, has quietly developed a vibrant tech sector and sits poised on the verge of a digital revolution.

He recently sat down with Business Today to talk about hot investments — hint: It all a starts with your mobile — the dilemma that is digital piracy and the game-changing iPad.

Which company? I can’t tell you today, because if I’d seen it, I’d have invested in it. But one of the hottest [ideas] out there is the mobile wallet.

[With even] a basic mobile phone, I can dial a code provided by my mobile carrier and request an amount of money. Then I can go to a shop and buy something. [The purchase] then becomes a credit that I have to pay on my bill.

Absolutely.

If you talk to Vodafone, we’re not far. I believe the three mobile operators are working on this. Mobile applications are going to flourish, and soon.

I think the video gaming industry will start to see more players. Egyptians are actually pirating every game in town, so [the demand is there to] drive growth.

One of the things we have to do as a country is start to be much tougher on people who run pirate websites. It has not been dealt with as proficiently as providers would like.

Absolutely. You will not find business running on services that are hacked easily.

It is. We’re far away from where we want to be. Computers in Egypt right now are going down in price, [and this] will fuel our industry.

Today we have a nucleus of innovation. We’re making serious moves. A little bit of money in this field can help develop [some impressive] business models.

This is where the globe is moving. It’s a revolution. You have to tap into technology. If you don’t, you’re going to be left out.

I would give it 20 years, if not less, the way we’re going. The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology is doing a great job.

What can I say about Apple. The iPad is of course a great idea. I’m sure it’s going to have success, like the iPhone. It’s not a cheap device. The demographic [here] is small, but it’s growing.

Cloud computing is going to happen because the amount of [corporate] data is growing phenomenally. It’s going to be very hard for people to store data as they do today. Within five years it will become a dominant factor in the storage plans of small and medium-sized enterprises.

This is a penetration issue. The banking sector hasn’t really marketed [e-commerce services] and products as we would have liked. But it is starting. In the next five years, you will see a dramatic change. E-commerce will happen very soon. I think you can refer to what has happened in the West. [E-commerce] is a more compelling business model. It is cheaper and offers fast access. bt

A hmad Gomaa runs the Technology Development Fund, a unit of investment bank EFG Hermes. The fund has raised $50 million (LE 275 million) in venture capital during the last six years, pouring the money into a host of up-and-coming companies. They include:

ConnectmeTV: Earlier this year the company launched an all-in-one device that can play DVDs, access satellite feeds and pause live TV. It was billed as the first product of its kind in the region.

Smart Cards Application: The company is behind a line of magnetic cards that millions of Egyptians will soon be able to use to buy subsidized sugar, oil and flour.

Timeline Interactive: The video game maker churned out a major hit last year for Microsoft’s Xbox console and is considered one of the leading video game developers in the Middle East.