Cairo has secured a place among the world’s top 100 innovation clusters for the first time, rising 12 spots to 83rd in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025, published by the United Nations’ (UN) World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The Egyptian capital is the only cluster in both the Arab world and Africa to feature in the rankings, which measure patent activity, scientific publishing, and venture capital deals.
According to the report, Cairo recorded seven international patent applications (PCT) over the past five years, published 1,115 scientific articles, and secured 21 venture capital (VC) deals per million inhabitants.
Collectively, the top 100 clusters account for approximately 70 percent of global PCT filings and VC activity, as well as half of all scientific publishing.
Cairo University (24%), Ain Shams University (14%), and the National Research Centre (13%) were cited as the main contributors to academic output.
Syware Systems, the American University in Cairo, and the state-owned Engineering for Petroleum and Process Industries (Enppi) led patent activity.
Nearly a quarter of Cairo’s patents were co-filed with inventors in global tech hubs such as San Francisco and London, while almost 40 percent of its research papers were co-authored with partners in Riyadh, Islamabad, and Beijing.
Egypt’s higher education ministry hailed the achievement as evidence of growing international collaboration and pointed to its “National Policy for Sustainable Innovation 2030”, issued earlier this year, as part of efforts to link universities more closely with industry.
The Global Innovation Index ranks clusters based on their concentration of inventors, researchers, and entrepreneurs.
The top hubs remain dominated by North America, Europe, and East Asia, led by Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou, Tokyo–Yokohama, and Silicon Valley.
Cairo’s move up the rankings, from 95th last year, highlights its emerging role as a regional centre for science and technology.
source/content: english.ahram.org.eg (headline edited)
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