BARQ, iOCO and PortfolioTech Unite to Drive MENA Cloud Growth

BARQ Systems today announced a strategic alliance with iOCO, an innovative provider of end-to-end technology and hyperscale solutions operating across Africa, the United Kingdom, and Europe, and the Egypt-based cloud-native-first PortfolioTech. Together, the three organizations will empower and support government and private sector organizations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to achieve mission-critical business outcomes through the power of the cloud.

Regionally, governments and private sector organizations are facing rising demand for secure, scalable, citizen-focused digital services. The partnership aims to address and overcome the challenges of legacy infrastructure, security concerns, and fragmented digital strategies. By combining the strengths of regional market access and reach, certified expertise, industry knowledge, and cost competitiveness, the alliance will deliver tailored cloud solutions that enable faster, safer, and more efficient public services.

"Public sector organizations across MENA face an urgent mandate: deliver modern, citizen-centric services while maintaining the highest security standards," said Mahmoud Soliman, President & CEO, BARQ Systems.

"This strategic alliance combines proven global expertise with deep regional understanding, enabling governments to accelerate their digital transformation with confidence and impact,” he added.

“Governments and private sector organizations today need more than technology; they need trusted partners who understand their unique challenges and the scale of opportunities ahead. Together, we are offering practical, secure, scalable and cost-competitive pathways to cloud adoption that are designed to deliver real-world impact,” said Dr. Azza El-Shinnawy, Co-Founding CEO of PortfolioTech and former Head of Egypt and North Africa at Amazon Web Services (AWS).

“Our joint venture with PortfolioTech is all about delivering measurable impact through smarter cloud adoption, skilled human capital, and regionally relevant innovation. This partnership, together with the alliance with BARQ Systems is designed to support MENA enterprises at every stage of their digital transformation journey, ensuring solutions are not only technically advanced but also tailored to meet their unique needs,” added Richard Vester, Chief Executive: Cloud at iOCO.

iOCO will provide both technical enablement and strategic investment through its operations in the United Kingdom and regional markets of the Middle East and North Africa, allowing the alliance to gain access to world-class delivery capabilities and position it as a new regional hub for cloud services, IT outsourcing, and technology innovation.