News
Google Brings Plus Codes To 18 MENA Countries
The geocode system behind the feature, called the Open Location Code, was developed at Google’s Zürich engineering office and launched in 2014.
The Plus Codes feature of Google Maps will soon be turned on for users in 18 MENA countries, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria.
The feature allows Google Maps users to turn their latitude and longitude co-ordinates into a short sequence of numbers and letters that they can easily share with others.
“Plus Codes are like street addresses for people or places that don’t have one,” explains Google. “With a Plus Code, people can receive deliveries, access emergency and social services, or just help other people find them.”
The geocode system behind the feature, called the Open Location Code (OLC), was developed at Google’s Zürich engineering office and launched in 2014.
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Earlier this year, Plus Codes launched in India, quickly attracting hundreds of thousands of users. Plus Codes are also widely used by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), governments in Sub-Saharan Africa, and businesses that want to make it easier for customers to find them.
To Generate A Plus Code On A Computer
- Open Google Maps.
- Select the location for which you want to generate a Plus Code.
- Click the coordinates (such as 49.475019, 17.116156) displayed in the info box at the bottom.
- Hover your mouse over the plus code in the left pane.
- Click the copy button to copy the generated Plus Code to the clipboard.
To Generate A Plus Code On A Mobile Device
- Launch the Google Maps app.
- Drop a pin at the location for which you want to generate a Plus Code.
- Tap the “Dropped pin” panel at the bottom.
- Find the Plus Code beside the Plus Code logo.
- Tap the Plus Code to copy it to the clipboard.
Alternatively, you can use the map on the official website of Plus Code to quickly generate a Plus Code for any location with a street address.
News
Egypt’s Mobile Wallets Are Booming, But Cash Still Has Power
Egypt’s telecom regulator says $57.6 billion moved through more than 57 million wallets in six months. And one operator handled 77% of the value.
Egypt’s mobile wallets handled EGP 2.96 trillion ($57.6 billion) in transactions in the first half of 2026, according to the National Telecom Regulatory Authority – a 56% rise on the EGP 1.90 trillion ($36.9 billion) recorded a year earlier. Transactions grew faster still, up 62% to 2.22 billion, while registered wallets climbed 23% to 57.01 million.
On one reading, that is exactly what Egypt’s regulators have been pushing for: a payments system that runs through telecom-linked wallets rather than banknotes. But the same data shows how far cash still reaches into it. Cash withdrawals made up just 12% of the transactions taking money out of wallets, yet 75% of the value withdrawn or spent.
Money arrives mostly from bank accounts: transfers through InstaPay accounted for 78% of deposit transactions and 58% of the value deposited, while incoming remittances from abroad made up 3% of deposit transactions but 10% of their value. Once inside, it largely moves between wallets – wallet-to-wallet transfers accounted for 54% of all transactions and 67% of total value, with mobile and internet top-ups a distant second at 25% of volume. In effect, the wallet is serving as a transfer layer: the place money passes through between the bank account and the banknote.
That layer also runs predominantly through one operator. Vodafone Cash held 53% of registered wallets and 57% of active ones, but handled 69% of transactions and 77% of their value. Its nearest rival, e& money, held 23% of registered wallets but 14% of transaction value; Orange Cash 20% and 8%; WE Pay 4% of wallets. How many of the 57.01 million are active is not stated.
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Adoption is rather uneven in other respects. Men held 38 million wallets, or 67% of the total, against 19 million held by women. Users aged 26 to 45 accounted for half of all wallets, and Cairo alone had 10.6 million, or 19% of the national total, with Giza next at 6.5 million.
The NTRA says it is continuing to work with telecom operators on the regulatory framework for wallet services, part of a wider effort to expand electronic payments and financial inclusion. Its own figures show that effort succeeding on the way in. On the way out, three-quarters of the value still leaves as cash.
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