Ahmed El-Sharkawy
Partner
Fax
(+202) 2322 5401
Languages
Arabic, English
Ahmed is the head of Sharkawy & Sarhanâs TMT group and he works with major financial institutions and technology companies.
He advises companies on complex commercial and regulatory projects, digital payments, cloud computing, ride hailing, data privacy and security, artificial intelligence, E-signature and mergers and acquisitions in the TMT sector. Ahmed has more than 20 years of experience in various fields.
Prior to co-founding Sharkawy & Sarhan, Ahmed worked as an in-house counsel first with a major industrial group and subsequently as the Country Legal Counsel for Citigroup in Egypt. He has LL.M in International Banking and Financial Laws from Boston University.
Recently, he is ranked as a âLeading Individualâ in the TMT sector by Legal500 as well as, he was selected by the IFLR1000 as a “Highly Regarded” lawyer from 2015 till 2023.
Related Sectors
Related Practice Areas
Representative Experience
Webex that develops and sells web conferencing, video conferencing and contact center as a service application in order to provide such services in Egypt. Our scope of work included the required licenses, legal requirements and legal restrictions in relation to such services.
The company business is complicated and not common in Egypt. In addition, the Egyptian Telecommunications regulations do not provide straightforward provisions governing Webex services.
Advising on the registrations / licenses / approvals needed for IBM cloud products, with special focus on the Telecommunication Law no. 10/2003, National Telecommunication Regulatory Authorityâs (the âNTRAâ) Framework for Establishing and Operating Data Centres and Providing Hosting and Cloud Computing Services issued in August 2021 and NTRAâs Internet of Things (IoT) Regulatory Framework.
Reviewing and localizing TikTokâs new platform (SoundOn) terms of use, privacy policy and cookiesâ policy in light of Egyptian law. Additionally, we clarified several important notes to be taken into consideration by the client while launching the platform in Egypt.
Advising on the legal framework for the geographical expansion of Paystack activities in Egypt.
Numerous international and local entities including Fujitsu, ACE Insurance, Monasnto, UBS, BG Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK), GoDaddy Inc, Majid Al Futtaim Group, Panasonic, Deloitte, GoDaddy Inc and CSC on various data protection matters.
Advising a leading tech company on the launch of its gift cards, including licensing requirements under the Central Bank regulations, the nature of the topped-up funds, the nature of the relationship with customers, and the treatment of unclaimed properties.
Advising Nestle on the acquisition of Pfizer nutrition business and the sale of its chilled dairy business in Egypt to Best Cheese Company as part of NestlĂ©âs worldwide joint venture with Lactalis.
Advising LC Waikiki, Defacto and Azadea group on various aspects of their business including their online platforms.
Panasonic on transfer impact assessment, which includes determining whether the country of the data importer provides a level of protection essentially equivalent to that guaranteed within the EU.
Drafting a legal report for Huawei on the importation and exportation processes for telecommunication equipment.
Reviewing Neptune Energyâs Intra Group Data Transfer Agreement and assessing its compliance with Data Protection Law no. 151/2020. Additionally, based on our recommendation, we drafted a country-specific data transfer annex to be applied to the data transfer processes in which Egyptâs entity / Egyptian data subjects are involved.
Completing a Rulefinder Data Privacy survey for Aosphere which consists of a detailed, comprehensive survey (100 pages) on all matters related to data privacy in Egypt.
Norton Rose in completing a Global Data Privacy Directory in respect of Egypt. Sharkawy & Sarhan authored the section on Egypt in Norton Roseâs guide for clients on data privacy laws around the world, which includes an overview of the relevant laws (if any) in each jurisdiction, the type of data that is protected and whether there are restrictions on offshore transfers.
Working with the Egyptian government on the draft data protection law. Ahmed proposed several changes that the government accepted and has been involved in the process of drafting the law.
Education and Memberships
- IMD Board Director Diploma from The International Institute for Management Development â Global Board Center in June 2024.
Â
- European Data Protection Online Training. Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) in July 2022.
Â
- Audited Corporate and Project Finance Professional Certificate by American University in Cairo, School of Business and Economics, Cairo, Egypt in June 2002.
Â
- LLM, International Banking and Financial Law, Faculty of Law, Boston University, USA.
Â
- LLB, Cairo University, Faculty of Law, English Section, and qualified in 1999.
Â
Insights
Ahmed El-Sharkawy
Partner
Phone: (+202) 2322 5400 Ext. (101)
Fax: (+202) 2322 5401
Languages: Arabic, English
Related Practice Areas: Corporate & Commercial, Data Privacy & Cyber-security
Ahmed is the head of Sharkawy & Sarhanâs TMT group and he works with major financial institutions and technology companies.
He advises companies on complex commercial and regulatory projects, digital payments, cloud computing, ride hailing, data privacy and security, artificial intelligence, E-signature and mergers and acquisitions in the TMT sector. Ahmed has more than 20 years of experience in various fields.
Prior to co-founding Sharkawy & Sarhan, Ahmed worked as an in-house counsel first with a major industrial group and subsequently as the Country Legal Counsel for Citigroup in Egypt. He has LL.M in International Banking and Financial Laws from Boston University.
Recently, he is ranked as a âLeading Individualâ in the TMT sector by Legal500 as well as, he was selected by the IFLR1000 as a “Highly Regarded” lawyer from 2015 till 2023.
Representative Experience
Conducting an extensive legal assessment for a tech giant on the lunch of its media platform in Egypt.
Advising a number of media companies on compliance and on the licensing regime under the Media Law and its executive regulations.
Advising a tech giant on the legal aspects of deploying artificial intelligence software in Egypt.
Advising Nestle on the acquisition of Pfizer nutrition business and the sale of its chilled dairy business in Egypt to Best Cheese Company as part of NestlĂ©âs worldwide joint venture with Lactalis.
Advising several multinational technology companies on the new Cybercrimes Law.
Advising several multinational technology companies on the intermediary liability of online platforms under Egyptian Law.
Conducting an extensive legal assessment on the ride hailing regulations in Egypt, including marketing and employment aspects.
Advising a leading tech company on the launch of its gift cards, including licensing requirements under the Central Bank regulations, the nature of the topped-up funds, the nature of the relationship with customers, and the treatment of unclaimed properties.
Advising LC Waikiki, Defacto and Azadea group on various aspects of their business including their online platforms.
