Sir Magdi Yacoub’s Auctioned Tie Heals Hearts

"Egypt’s first mobile-based charity auction raised EGP 26,000 for renowned heart surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub’s tie, which he donated to raise funds for the Aswan Heart Hospital that he founded to treat thousands of cardiac patients for free in the country."

When buying a tie means saving a life

"In an online campaign called Mazad Elkheir (the goodwill auction), Yacoub vowed to donate the revenues from his tie for the Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation, which provides medical care for children with cardiac health problems"

When buying a tie means saving a life

"In an online campaign called Mazad Elkheir (the goodwill auction), Yacoub vowed to donate the revenues from his tie for the Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation, which provides medical care for children with cardiac health problems"

Customer Analytics, Agility, and Corporate Partnerships: How TA Telecom Expanded Beyond Egypt

"The research and writing of this case study was carried out by Iliana Montauk. Jamil Wyne, provided valuable guidance for structuring and implementing this publication. Heba Gamal, former Managing Director of Endeavor Egypt and Amr Shady, Founder and Executive Chairman of TA Telecom also provided important in- sights and feedback throughout the study. Teeb Assaf, William Altman, and Tarren Peterson from the Wamda Research Lab edited this case study."

Egyptian talent and wealth are concentrated in the capital

""Local hero: TA telecom is an SMS-based content delivery provider, founded by Amr Shady which has expanded..."

Africa’s TA telecom wins a Red Herring

"Competing with hundreds of innovative companies, TA telecom is the only African-headquartered tech company to win the Red Herring Top 100 Europe award – a prestigious list honouring the year’s most promising private technology ventures from the European business region.”

‘Thinking big’ key to tech CEO Amr Shady’s success

"At age 15 he was admitted at a Canadian university to study electrical engineering. By 23 he started his own business, and today, in his 30s, Amr Shady runs one of the 50 fastest-growing technology companies in Africa as ranked by professional services firm Deloitte. Dinfin Mulupi spoke to the entrepreneur via email about his motivations to venture into business, the lessons he has learned and his ambition to “build the next Google”.

TA telecom as a Finalist at Red Herring Top 100 Europe

"TA telecom is the only African tech company shortlisted as a finalist for Red Herring’s Top 100 Europe award. This is a prestigious list, honouring the year’s most promising private technology ventures from the European business region. The Red Herring editorial team selects and evaluates nominees on 20 main quantitative and qualitative criteria including disruptive impact, market footprint, proof of concept, financial performance, technology innovation, social value, quality of management, execution of strategy, and integration into their respective industries.

Forget Amazon, drone delivery will take off in Africa

The extraordinary acceleration of mobile phone ownership in Africa has transformed the continent. According to a December 2013 report by TA Telecom, mobile phone penetration is now more than 80 percent and means that fixed-line internet infrastructure is unlikely to happen...

African mobile penetration hits 80% (and is growing faster than anywhere else)

We tend to have certain paradigms about the “developed world” and the “developing world.” Including, of course, media-fed images of Africa as a place of almost irredeemable poverty, deprivation, and pain. Many of our paradigms are, of course, illusions...

Africa: an untapped opportunity for Middle Eastern startups

Cellular penetration in Africa is growing at a rate of around 4.2 percent – a rate unequalled anywhere else in the world. In terms of mobile internet adoption, the picture is similar; it's expected that the number of smartphone users in Nigeria will rise from the current figure of around six million to more than 35 million by 2017...

Africa and venture capital: How VCs can help 12 of the world’s 20 fastest-growing countries

Mobile donations across the month of Ramadan have raised KSh. 42.5 million for Egyptian charities and NGOs, according to recent figures by TA Telecom. Over a quarter of a million (284,632) individuals donated KSh. 42.5 million (USD 484,702) to charities such as the 57357 Children Cancer Hospital, Egyptian Food Bank and Resala Charity Organization during Ramadan - a traditional time of giving in Islam...

Africa's Tech Engines

Much has been made in recent years of Africa’s ‘innovation boom’, as Nairobi, Cape Town, Lagos and Accra emerge as stomping grounds for technology start-ups. The surge of activity tracks the continent’s blossoming relationship with the mobile phone...

The mobile opportunity for startups in the Middle East and Africa

“Even though we have a mobile penetration rate of 109% in the Middle East, I still see room for growth,” says Amr Shady, the founder of TA Telecom in Egypt upon the release of the latest Ericsson Mobility Report...

Chat apps surpass SMS texting in popularity, but not in Africa

The volume of traffic from chat-based apps like Blackberry Messenger and WhatsApp have reportedly surpassed SMS text messaging for the first time, based on new data released today from research firm Informa...

Arabia500 Announces 130 of the Fastest Growing Companies in the Middle East

In anticipation of theArabia500 gathering on December 10th at the 2012 Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Dubai, the AllWorld Network has announced the first 130 Finalists for the 2012 Arabia500 earlier this month...

Making Their Mark

When the nonprofit organization Endeavor Global says they mentor "high-impact" entrepreneurs around the world, they're not kidding. At the far north of the African continent, Egyptian entrepreneur Amr Shady has also been an early starter, cofounding the company for which he now serves as CEO, TA Telecom, at age 23...

Emerging Stars, Egypt – TA Telecom

Entrepreneur of the Week

This week's Entrepreneur of the Week is Amr Shady of Egypt-based mobile value-added service provider company T.A. Telecom. In a Skype chat with Wamda, he describes how he got his start pitching mobile advertising concepts...