The UK and Egyptian governments have signed a new agreement that will make it easier for UK universities to establish branch campuses in the North African country.

The memorandum of understanding states that new overseas outposts will focus on supporting the priorities laid out in Egypt’s 2030 economic strategy by providing education to meet the country’s labour-force needs; increasing research and innovation collaboration and student and staff mobility; growing capacity within Egypt’s higher education sector; and supporting the country’s internationalisation ambitions.

The agreement was signed by UK universities and science minister Sam Gyimah and Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar, Egypt’s higher education and scientific research minister.

Last year, Dr Abdel-Ghaffar said that the government was looking to introduce a new law that would make it easier for foreign universities to establish branch campuses in the country.

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Egypt is the fifth-largest host country for UK transnational education and the top nation in the Middle East and North Africa region for this activity.

Vivienne Stern, director of Universities UK International, which helped create the new agreement, said that it provides “an exciting opportunity for the UK to establish new forms of transnational education in Egypt”.

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“The quantity and depth of UK-Egypt partnerships has been growing steadily over recent years and there is clear demand to expand this further,” she said.

There was a 35 per cent increase in the number of students studying for UK university programmes within Egypt to almost 20,000 between 2013-14 and 2015-16.

ellie.bothwell@timeshighereducation.com