“This new center aims to respond to the growing needs of the local automotive industry,” the statement reads.
Rabat – Segula Technologies, a world-renowned group in the automotive engineering sector, has announced the opening of its automotive sector-dedicated “Center of Excellence” in Morocco.
The center, which will be based in Agadir, one of the hubs of Morocco’s growing automotive industry, will be “entirely dedicated” to technological innovation and high quality research in mechanical engineering, the company said in a press release.
It added that the center is expected to help sustain Morocco’s growing automotive sector by providing a pool of highly trained engineers equipped to predict market trends in the technology and automotive sectors and create products adapted to market demands.
“This new center aims to respond to the growing needs of the local automotive industry,” the statement reads.
The center seeks to “accompany” the efforts of investors in the Moroccan automobile industry by training a significant pool of local experts poised to fill vacancies requiring a highly qualified training in various automobile sector-related fields.
Segula Technologies says the new center will be in tune with the state-of-the art developments in the technology and engineering sectors. This will include research and training in “artificial intelligence and additive manufacturing,” two of the French engineering company’s most acknowledged competencies.
In terms of employment, the center also aims to become a leading employment destination for future Moroccan automobile engineers and technology researchers. While the current goal is to employ 300 full-time engineers and researchers by 2020, the long-term plans are far more ambitious.
The group envisions reaching 2000 employees by 2025 and projects to establish itself as the region’s go-to center both research and training in a wide range of engineering fields.
“The launching of this center testifies to Segula’s commitment to advancing Morocco’s automotive sector. Thanks to its world-renowned skills in the entire automotive channel, its innovation capacity and commitment to developing local capacity, the group has all the potential to be a strategic partner” for Morocco, said Mikael Busbib, director of Segula Technologies’ Morocco branch.
The news comes as Morocco seeks to consolidate its regional leadership position both an investment and innovation hub. The North African has largely reformed its investment policies in the past years to attract world-renowned investors.
In June, world-renowned PSA Group opened in Kenitra, an hour drive from Rabat, its first PSA Peugeot African industrial complex.
During the opening, both PSA leadership and the Moroccan government reiterated the notion that the launching of PSA’s Kenitra plants was part of a larger scheme to make Morocco Africa’s go-to destination for investment and innovation.