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Egyptian tech startups offer hope for economy in post-COVID world

While Egypt's economy faces pressure from several factors, such as coronavirus preventative measures, a sudden stop in tourism and record-high debt levels, one bright spot in the economy is a tech boom that has continued even throughout the global pandemic.
Cairo, EGYPT:  An Egyptian trader works on her computer in the Cairo Stock Exchange 15 March 2006. The three-year boom in Arab stocks appears to be ending as stocks in Dubai, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, considered among the world's best performers since 2003, are sliding amid concerns that prices have outpaced the outlook for earnings grow. Egypt's index has lost 22 percent from its 01 Febuary 2006 peak. AFP PHOTO/KHALED DESOUKI  (Photo credit should read KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

When Egyptian entrepreneur Doaa Aref was diagnosed with thyroid cancer three years ago, she said her thyroidectomy was the easy part. Not only did she have trouble finding the medicines she needed, but she would often get the wrong prescriptions delivered to her home when ordering from local pharmacies over the phone.

Later on, a recovered Aref found out that she wasn’t the only patient to have faced the issue. That’s how the former digital marketing manager and her business partner Dr. Rasha Rady came up with the idea for Chefaa, a Cairo-based medicine delivery platform launched in 2017.

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