Abdullah Assal: The Success of Digital Transformation Is Measured by Its Ability to Solve Everyday Citizen Problems

Wednesday 21 October 2026 17:34

Abdullah Assal, Co-founder and CEO of Sahl—a leading electronic payments and fintech company—emphasized that the success of digital transformation does not depend on the number of digitized services, but on their actual ability to ease citizens' lives, save time and effort, and streamline transactions. Speaking at the Egypt Forum 2026, he highlighted that technology achieves its true value when it delivers practical, reliable solutions for everyday use.

The Genesis: An Innovation Ending Electricity Recharge Struggles

Assal explained that this core philosophy drove the launch of the "Sahl" app, which initially addressed a widespread issue faced by prepaid electricity meter users: the sudden depletion of credit requiring in-person visits to recharge points. By leveraging Near Field Communication (NFC) technology available on smartphones, the company enabled users to charge their electricity cards conveniently from home.

Fruitful Public-Private Partnerships Without Heavy Infrastructure Costs

The CEO noted that adopting NFC allowed Sahl to deliver this solution without massive infrastructure investments in the electricity sector. He stressed that the active support and adoption by relevant government bodies helped transform the idea into an accessible public service, placing a key responsibility on Sahl to ensure consistent service reliability and uptime.

Expansion and Continuous Evolution to Meet User Needs

Over time, Sahl evolved from a specialized electricity card recharge tool into a comprehensive platform offering a wide array of bill payment services. Assal revealed that the app has garnered over 500,000 positive reviews across app stores with an average rating of 4.8 out of 5, reinforcing that digital transformation is an ongoing process requiring continuous updates and user-centric enhancements