The 2025 Global Innovation Index results announced that Cairo ranked 83rd in size among the top 100 global innovation clusters, marking a significant leap from its 95th position in 2024, and entering the top 100 for the first time.

Dr. Ayman Ashour, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, praised the report’s results, noting that creating a stimulating environment for researchers to support international scientific research is part of the national strategy for higher education and scientific research, with “innovation and entrepreneurship” being one of its seven main principles.

He explained that the ministry works to enhance the role of educational and research institutions as innovative entities and to create an attractive environment encouraging cooperation between educational and research institutions and industry. In this context, the ministry issued the National Sustainable Innovation Policy 2030 in February 2025.

The 2025 Global Innovation Index report indicated that Cairo is the only cluster from the Arab world and Africa classified among the top 100 global innovation clusters. Over the past five years, Cairo recorded 7 international patent applications (PCT), published 1115 scientific articles, and concluded 21 venture capital deals per million inhabitants.

The report highlighted the top research entities publishing in Cairo as follows: Cairo University 24%, Ain Shams University 14%, and the National Research Centre 13%. The leading patent applicants were Saiware Systems Company, followed by the American University in Cairo, then Enppi Petroleum and Complementary Industries Company.

The report added that 23% of patent applications were in collaboration with inventors in London, Boston-Cambridge, and San Jose-San Francisco, while 39% of scientific articles published from Cairo were in partnership with institutions in Riyadh, Islamabad, and Beijing.

Dr. Hossam Osman, Deputy Minister for Innovation, Artificial Intelligence, and Scientific Research, stated that the ministry adopts a scientific approach based on continuous monitoring of universities, centers, institutes, and research bodies to focus their research plans on innovation, emphasizing the importance of these efforts in positively supporting the national economy.

He pointed out the ministry’s policy of investing research results to innovate value-added products that have a positive impact on both societal and economic levels, benefiting from scientific research outputs to produce competitive products with tangible material impact, noting the launch of the National Sustainable Innovation Policy.

Dr. Adel Abdel Ghaffar, Media Advisor and Official Spokesperson for the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, stated that the Egyptian higher education system is witnessing remarkable growth in international scientific publishing due to several measures implemented recently, including technical support provided by the ministry to Egyptian universities, training on international publishing, and the distinguished efforts of universities and research centers in encouraging researchers of all academic ranks to publish in prestigious international journals. He also highlighted the recognition given to internationally published scientific research in academic promotion committees, the availability of information sources for researchers via the internet, and cooperation with the Egyptian Knowledge Bank.

It is worth noting that the Global Innovation Index is an important international indicator issued by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), ranking countries according to innovation and its supporting institutions and factors. It measures four stages in the innovation cycle: investment in science and innovation, technological progress, technology adoption, and the social and economic impact of innovation.