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Rabat – Just over three weeks ago, newly elected leftist Moroccan parliamentarian Omar Balafrej resigned from his lucrative position as the head of the kingdom’s premier start-up hub Technopark to fully focus on his duties as lawmaker.
The Moroccan Information Technopark Company (MITC), which runs three facilities under its banner, recently appointed Lamiae Benmakhlouf as Balafrej’s replacement.
Benmakhlouf started working with MITC as Chief Financial Officer just one year after its inauguration in 2001. In 2008, she became the holding company’s director of operations and support, before taking over as Deputy Manager three years later, just as the Technopark model began its expansion to Rabat and Tangier.
In a recent interview with Quid.ma, Benmakhlouf, 42, discussed her plans for the start-up incubator. Her predecessor Balalfrej’s projects have been a success so far, she said, adding that she would work towards continuing previously planned initiatives and develop new strategies based on her experiences in the United States.
“I will not change the existing vision,” she said. “What I will do is continue the work developed by Omar Balafrej with continuous improvement of services for the benefit of our customers and of course the implementation of some projects that inspired me when I was in Silicon Valley.”
Benmakhlouf represents Morocco in the U.S. Department of State’s TechWomen program, which connects STEM leaders of the next generation in Central and South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa to mentors in Silicon Valley.
The tech professional specializes in IT solutions, costumer relationship management (CRM) software and cloud computing programs.
