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Middle East · Meta market: Egypt

WhatsApp Business API for Egypt, from the PDPC licence to Egyptian Arabic

In Egypt, electronic marketing needs a licence or permit as well as consent, and proof of that consent is kept for three years. Here is the list to clear before the first broadcast.

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Time zone
UTC+2; UTC+3 in summer (since 2023)[2]
Meta market
Egypt (own rate card)
Data law
Law No. 151 of 2020[3]
E-marketing
Needs a PDPC licence or permit[3]
Consent records
Kept for three years[3]
Capital
Cairo (Constitution, Art. 222)[1]

Per message · ₹ · ex-GST

Egypt

Marketing
₹5.66
Utility
₹0.3167
Authentication
₹0.3167
Service replies
₹0.3167

InfiQ’s published rates, effective 1 October 2026.

For Indian businesses with customers in Egypt, and Egyptian firms evaluating an Indian provider: the licence and the conditions Law No. 151 of 2020 sets for electronic marketing, how long to keep proof of consent, when Cairo's clock shifts, and what a +20 message costs.

Before you send

What Egypt asks before a marketing message goes out

Law No. 151 of 2020 makes electronic marketing a licensed activity and sets conditions for every direct-marketing message. Tick off what your process already covers.

Egypt's Personal Data Protection Law No. 151 of 2020 requires a licence or permit from the Personal Data Protection Centre for electronic marketing; DLA Piper described its Executive Regulations as recently issued in February 2026.[3]

Regulator: Personal Data Protection Centre (PDPC); its site was unreachable, so DLA Piper's profile is linked

Your sending checklist

7/7

ticked

Required
7 / 7

Ready to send

Every item ticked.

Tick each item as your process covers it. This is a practical checklist, not legal advice.

Ready to send. 7 of 7 ticked.

Sources for each point: A PDPC licence or permit for electronic marketing[3]; Consent before the message[3],[7]; Name the sender, give an address[3]; Say it is marketing, offer a simple opt-out[3]; Keep consent records for three years[3]; A registered Data Protection Officer[3]; 72 hours to the Centre, three days to customers[3]

This section summarises public guidance from the sources cited. It is not legal advice; check with your counsel before you send.

Cairo keeps summer time again

Egypt reinstated summer time in 2023, so its gap to India changes twice a year.

Eastern European Time is UTC+2, three and a half hours behind India. From the last Friday of April to the last Thursday of October, summer time (UTC+3) brings Cairo to two and a half hours behind.

A broadcast set for 12:30 IST therefore lands at 10:00 in Cairo in summer and at 09:00 in winter. Schedule in Egyptian local time and the shift takes care of itself.

Drag or swipe to rotate. Use the arrow keys to rotate, plus and minus to zoom, and 0 to reset.

Market brief

Egypt's economy, mid-programme

Growth, prices, remittances and the IMF programme, in figures from the IMF and the Central Bank of Egypt.

  1. 01

    Real GDP grew 5.2% over the first nine months of FY2025/26, and the IMF expects about 4.6% for the full fiscal year.[4]

  2. 02

    The IMF said the 2026 Middle East war's impact on Egypt has remained relatively contained, helped by record remittance inflows, robust tourism receipts and a gradual recovery in Suez Canal revenues.[4]

  3. 03

    Headline inflation was 14.3% in June 2026, after rising to 15.2% in March on exchange-rate depreciation and higher energy prices.[4]

  4. 04

    Remittances from Egyptians working abroad reached US$33.9 billion in the first eight months of 2026, the Central Bank of Egypt reported on 13 October.[5]

  5. 05

    Egypt is in a 48-month IMF Extended Fund Facility; after the seventh review, disbursements under it and the Resilience and Sustainability Facility reached about US$7.3 billion.[4]

  6. 06

    InstaPay, on the Central Bank's Instant Payment Network since 22 March 2022, links all operating banks and moves money instantly to accounts, Meeza cards and mobile wallets, with payment links and QR codes.[6]

Industries

Three earners, three kinds of message

The parts of the economy the IMF and the Central Bank single out, and the WhatsApp traffic each produces.

  1. 01

    Tourism

    The IMF cited robust tourism receipts as a key support for the current account in FY2025/26.[4]

    On WhatsApp: Booking confirmations · Itineraries · Visitor support in Arabic and English

  2. 02

    Suez Canal and maritime services

    Suez Canal revenues were recovering gradually in FY2025/26, according to the IMF.[4]

    On WhatsApp: Vessel and cargo status updates · Documentation requests · Agent-to-client notices

  3. 03

    Banking, fintech and remittances

    The Instant Payment Network links all operating banks, and its IPN International Remittance service lets Egyptians abroad send money home instantly to accounts, wallets and cards.[6]

    On WhatsApp: Transfer-received alerts · InstaPay payment confirmations · KYC reminders

Egyptian Arabic has its own template code

Meta lists Arabic (Egypt) separately from general Arabic. Pick the code that matches how the template is written.

Consumer messages in Egypt are mostly written in Arabic, often in Egyptian colloquial rather than formal Arabic. A delivery update in the register your customers speak reads as a message from a business they know, not a form letter.

Each language version is approved separately, and inside the 24-hour service window agents can reply without a template in whatever register the customer used; each reply is charged as a service message.

Meta template languages relevant to Egypt
LanguageMeta codeUse it for
Arabic (Egypt)ar_EGTemplates written for Egyptian customers, including colloquial wording
ArabicarFormal Arabic, or one version shared with Gulf markets
EnglishenB2B, tech, outsourcing and banking audiences

Prices in ₹ and EGP

What a +20 message costs

Plans start at ₹999 a month, with each delivered message charged by category at InfiQ's Egypt rate, the same rates set beside the headline. Service replies have been charged per message since 1 October 2026.

Snapshot rates · as of 20 Oct 2026, 00:02 UTC

Lite

₹999 / month≈ E£567.17 EGP

₹833 / month, billed yearly≈ E£472.93 EGP

Growth

₹2,999 / month≈ E£1,702.66 EGP

₹2,499 / month, billed yearly≈ E£1,418.78 EGP

Enterprise

Custom volume pricing, custom SLA and dedicated infrastructure.

Per message to Egypt · Egypt

InfiQ per-message rates for Egypt in rupees and EGP
Category₹ INREGP
Marketing₹5.6629E£3.22
Utility₹0.3167E£0.180
Authentication₹0.3167E£0.180
Service₹0.3167E£0.180
Per-message rates for all 47 markets, in ₹ and EGP
Per-message rates by market, effective 1 October 2026
MarketMarketingUtilityAuthenticationService
ArgentinaE£3.09₹5.4352E£1.30₹2.2874E£1.30₹2.2874E£1.30₹2.2874
BangladeshE£3.66₹6.4397E£0.185₹0.3254E£0.185₹0.3254E£0.185₹0.3254
BrazilE£3.12₹5.4970E£0.340₹0.5981E£0.340₹0.5981E£0.340₹0.5981
ChileE£4.44₹7.8162E£0.998₹1.7585E£0.998₹1.7585E£0.998₹1.7585
ColombiaE£0.624₹1.0993E£0.0401₹0.0706E£0.0401₹0.0706E£0.0401₹0.0706
EgyptE£3.22₹5.6629E£0.180₹0.3167E£0.180₹0.3167E£0.180₹0.3167
FranceE£4.29₹7.5588E£1.50₹2.6393E£1.50₹2.6393E£1.50₹2.6393
GermanyE£6.82₹12.0088E£2.75₹4.8386E£2.75₹4.8386E£2.75₹4.8386
Hong KongE£3.66₹6.4397E£1.30₹2.2867E£1.30₹2.2867E£1.30₹2.2867
HungaryE£4.29₹7.5596E£1.74₹3.0700E£1.74₹3.0700E£1.74₹3.0700
IndiaE£0.536₹0.9435E£0.110₹0.1941E£0.0796₹0.1402E£0.0823₹0.1450
IndonesiaE£2.05₹3.6133E£1.25₹2.1979E£1.25₹2.1979E£1.25₹2.1979
IraqE£1.70₹2.9992E£0.394₹0.6943E£0.394₹0.6943E£0.394₹0.6943
IsraelE£1.76₹3.1045E£0.265₹0.4662E£0.265₹0.4662E£0.265₹0.4662
ItalyE£3.97₹6.9847E£1.50₹2.6369E£1.50₹2.6369E£1.50₹2.6369
KazakhstanE£3.01₹5.3098E£0.898₹1.5824E£0.898₹1.5824E£0.898₹1.5824
KuwaitE£3.96₹6.9671E£2.20₹3.8671E£2.20₹3.8671E£2.20₹3.8671
MalaysiaE£4.29₹7.5644E£0.699₹1.2314E£0.699₹1.2314E£0.699₹1.2314
MexicoE£1.98₹3.4877E£0.424₹0.7471E£0.424₹0.7471E£0.424₹0.7471
MoroccoE£2.07₹3.6425E£1.15₹2.0218E£1.15₹2.0218E£1.15₹2.0218
NetherlandsE£7.98₹14.0494E£2.50₹4.3987E£2.50₹4.3987E£2.50₹4.3987
NepalE£3.66₹6.4397E£0.170₹0.2990E£0.170₹0.2990E£0.170₹0.2990
NigeriaE£2.58₹4.5421E£0.335₹0.5898E£0.335₹0.5898E£0.335₹0.5898
OmanE£1.70₹2.9992E£1.23₹2.1709E£1.23₹2.1709E£1.23₹2.1709
PakistanE£2.36₹4.1620E£0.749₹1.3200E£0.749₹1.3200E£0.749₹1.3200
PeruE£3.51₹6.1843E£1.50₹2.6392E£1.50₹2.6392E£1.50₹2.6392
PolandE£1.82₹3.2105E£0.608₹1.0702E£0.608₹1.0702E£0.608₹1.0702
QatarE£1.70₹2.9992E£0.599₹1.0547E£0.599₹1.0547E£0.599₹1.0547
RomaniaE£4.29₹7.5596E£1.44₹2.5436E£1.44₹2.5436E£1.44₹2.5436
RussiaE£4.00₹7.0520E£2.00₹3.5173E£2.00₹3.5173E£2.00₹3.5173
Saudi ArabiaE£2.87₹5.0537E£0.534₹0.9401E£0.534₹0.9401E£0.534₹0.9401
SingaporeE£3.66₹6.4397E£0.799₹1.4072E£0.799₹1.4072E£0.799₹1.4072
South AfricaE£1.90₹3.3385E£0.475₹0.8369E£0.475₹0.8369E£0.475₹0.8369
SpainE£3.53₹6.2161E£0.998₹1.7578E£0.998₹1.7578E£0.998₹1.7578
Sri LankaE£3.66₹6.4397E£0.0999₹0.1759E£0.0999₹0.1759E£0.0999₹0.1759
TurkeyE£0.544₹0.9587E£0.0450₹0.0792E£0.0450₹0.0792E£0.0450₹0.0792
UkraineE£4.29₹7.5596E£1.48₹2.6138E£1.48₹2.6138E£1.48₹2.6138
United Arab EmiratesE£2.87₹5.0537E£0.784₹1.3811E£0.784₹1.3811E£0.784₹1.3811
United KingdomE£3.17₹5.5795E£1.10₹1.9346E£1.10₹1.9346E£1.10₹1.9346
North AmericaE£1.25₹2.1976E£0.170₹0.2989E£0.170₹0.2989E£0.170₹0.2989
Rest of AfricaE£1.12₹1.9796E£0.200₹0.3516E£0.200₹0.3516E£0.200₹0.3516
Rest of Asia PacificE£4.20₹7.4057E£0.564₹0.9938E£0.564₹0.9938E£0.564₹0.9938
Rest of Central & Eastern EuropeE£4.29₹7.5596E£1.06₹1.8595E£1.06₹1.8595E£1.06₹1.8595
Rest of Latin AmericaE£3.69₹6.5048E£0.564₹0.9934E£0.564₹0.9934E£0.564₹0.9934
Rest of Middle EastE£1.96₹3.4490E£0.454₹0.7998E£0.454₹0.7998E£0.454₹0.7998
Rest of Western EuropeE£2.96₹5.2054E£0.853₹1.5019E£0.853₹1.5019E£0.853₹1.5019
OtherE£3.01₹5.3098E£0.384₹0.6769E£0.384₹0.6769E£0.384₹0.6769
Currency converter

E£567.17 EGP

Indicative conversion at reference rates (ExchangeRate-API snapshot). InfiQ sets and invoices prices in Indian rupees, excluding GST; your bank’s rate on the day you pay will differ. Rates By Exchange Rate API.

Plan prices are monthly, in rupees, excluding GST; yearly billing is two months free. Messages are charged per delivered message on top of the plan, at the rate for the recipient’s country. Full details: InfiQ pricing. The pound column converts at a recent snapshot; the pound depreciated in early 2026, so check it before quoting a local budget. InfiQ invoices in rupees.

Rates for every Meta market, plus plans and add-ons, are on one page.

See all plans and rates

On InfiQ

What you run on InfiQ for Egyptian customers

The pieces that carry the checklist into day-to-day sending.

  1. Consent records and opt-out enforcement

    Each opt-in's source and time are recorded and the audit trail exports, so you can hold it for the three years Article 18 requires. STOP is enforced even against later imports.

  2. Template manager and library

    Put the sender name, contact address, marketing label and opt-out into every marketing template before it goes to Meta.

  3. Broadcast campaigns

    Send only to segments with recorded consent, up to 2,00,000 contacts per broadcast, scheduled on Cairo time.

  4. Shared team inbox

    Branch and support teams answer one number together, with transfers, labels and private notes.

  5. Integrations over the API

    Order events from Shopify or WooCommerce reach WhatsApp through InfiQ's API and webhooks; native connectors are still in development.

  6. Published per-market rates

    The Egypt rate is published in rupees, so a campaign's cost is known before it goes out, whatever the pound does.

Getting started

How to start

Four steps for an Indian business, then the route for a company in Egypt.

  1. From India

    Start the trial

    A 7-day Lite trial, no card needed. Plans then start at ₹999 a month, invoiced in rupees with GST.

  2. From India

    Verify with Meta

    Go-live takes about two hours once Meta business verification is complete.

  3. From India

    Settle the licence question

    Ask your counsel whether your Egyptian campaigns need a PDPC licence or permit, and allow for the Centre's 90-day decision period.

  4. From India

    Build the five conditions into each template

    Consent, sender name, contact address, a marketing label and a simple opt-out, with consent records kept for three years.

  5. Based in Egypt

    Talk to sales

    InfiQ serves India-based businesses. For a company based in Egypt, availability outside India goes through sales.

  6. Based in Egypt

    Know the arrangement

    InfiQ invoices in rupees, processes customer data in India and supports customers in English and Hindi on India time.

City guides in Egypt

Questions businesses ask about WhatsApp in Egypt

  1. Q1

    Do we need a PDPC licence before running WhatsApp campaigns to Egyptian customers?

    Quite possibly. DLA Piper reads Law No. 151 of 2020 as requiring controllers and processors to hold a licence or permit from the Personal Data Protection Centre to undertake any electronic marketing. The law does not name WhatsApp, so whether your campaigns count is an interpretation; the Centre takes up to 90 days to decide, so ask early.

  2. Q2

    How long must consent records for Egyptian contacts be kept?

    Three years from the last communication. Article 18 of Law No. 151 of 2020 requires senders of direct marketing to keep records evidencing consent for that long. InfiQ records each opt-in's source and time, and the audit trail exports so you can retain it.

  3. Q3

    Who should be our registered Data Protection Officer for Egypt?

    Someone your organisation appoints and registers with the Centre. The law requires controllers to appoint a Data Protection Officer registered with the Personal Data Protection Centre. InfiQ's consent records and audit exports can support that person's documentation, but the role sits with you.

  4. Q4

    Does sending Egyptian customer data to a provider in India need a PDPC licence?

    It may. The law requires a licence or permit from the Centre to collect, store, transfer or process electronic personal data, and InfiQ processes customer data in India. Whether that applies to your setup is a question for your counsel; raise it with sales before you sign.

  5. Q5

    Should templates for Egypt use Egyptian Arabic or general Arabic?

    Use Arabic (Egypt), ar_EG, when the template is written for Egyptian customers. Meta lists it separately from general Arabic, and consumer messages in Egypt are mostly in Arabic, often colloquial. Keep general Arabic for formal notices or a version shared with Gulf markets.

  6. Q6

    Can customers pay through InstaPay from a WhatsApp conversation?

    Yes, by link, though not inside the chat on InfiQ. The Instant Payment Network supports payment links and QR codes, so a link can go in a template or a reply; InfiQ does not offer in-chat payments. InstaPay limits are EGP 70,000 per transaction, EGP 120,000 a day and EGP 400,000 a month per bank.

  7. Q7

    How does a weaker pound change what a campaign to Egypt costs us?

    Not in rupees. InfiQ charges messages to Egyptian numbers at its published Egypt rate in rupees: ₹5.66 for marketing, ₹0.3167 for utility, ₹0.3167 for authentication and ₹0.3167 for a service reply, excluding GST. The pound figure in the converter is indicative and moves with the exchange rate.

  8. Q8

    We are based in Cairo: what can InfiQ offer us?

    A conversation with sales. InfiQ serves India-based businesses, invoices in rupees, processes customer data in India and supports customers in English and Hindi on India time, and has no office or entity in Egypt. Sales can say whether availability outside India covers your case.

Sources

Facts on this page were checked against these sources on the dates shown. InfiQ's rates come from its published rate card. Page updated 2026-10-20.

  1. [1]Constitution of Egypt (2014, revised 2019) · Constitute Project · read 2026-10-20
  2. [2]Zone Africa/Cairo and rule 'Egypt', 'africa' source file · IANA Time Zone Database (tzdb) · read 2026-10-20
  3. [3]Data Protection Laws of the World: Egypt (last modified 13 Feb 2026) · DLA Piper · read 2026-10-20
  4. [4]IMF completes the seventh review under the EFF and second review under the RSF for Egypt (30 Jul 2026) · International Monetary Fund · read 2026-10-20
  5. [5]Homepage news: remittances, January to August 2026 (13 Oct 2026) · Central Bank of Egypt · read 2026-10-20
  6. [6]Instant Payment Network (IPN) · Central Bank of Egypt · read 2026-10-20
  7. [7]WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy (updated 23 September 2026) · WhatsApp (Meta) · read 2026-10-20

Clear the checklist, then send to +20

Indian businesses can start a 7-day Lite trial, no card needed. Based in Egypt? Talk to sales about availability and data location.

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