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Rabat – Morocco’s King Mohammed VI officially launched construction works on the City of Trades and Skills (CMC) Souss-Massa in the region of Agadir on Thursday.
The CMC will offer vocational training for jobs in the industry, digital and offshoring, management, tourism and hospitality, and construction.
Apprentices will also be able to receive training in the sectors of agriculture, fisheries, agro-industry, and handicrafts.
The construction project is part of the wider industrial acceleration plan for the region, as well as one cog in a nationwide wheel to create more jobs and opportunities through vocational training. The Sous-Massa CMC is one of 12 set to be launched across Morocco.
The national project, with a budget of MAD 3.6 billion, aims to provide multi-sectoral vocational training for 34,000 trainees.
The CMC Souss-Massa will be set over 15 hectares of land, with space for future extensions, with an overarching construction budget of MAD 430 million ($44.5 million).
Agadir’s CMC, the first of its kind in Morocco, will boast facilities for 3,000 interns per year, including onsite accommodation for 400.
Training will be available for 10 sectors of trade, divided into 88 training branches. Trainees and interns will receive official qualifications on completion of their courses, with 80% of interns receiving a diploma. The other 20% will receive a short-term training certificate.
As part of the official launch of the project in Agadir, King Mohammed presided over a signing ceremony to finalize the funding agreement.
Mohamed Benchaaboun, minister of Economy, Finance and Administration Reform, Saaid Amzazi, minister of National Education, Vocational Training, Higher Education and Scientific Research, Dounia Ben Abbas Taârji, president of the executive board of the Hassan II Fund for Economic and Social Development, and Director General of the Office for Vocational and Labor Promotion (OFPPT), Loubna Tricha, all signed the agreement.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Tricha outlined the reforms and developments set to accompany the construction of the CMC.
The OFPPT director emphasized that the new training programs are aimed to dovetail with, and meet the needs of Morocco’s labor market.
“The aim of these projects is to provide quality training according to new material and pedagogical criteria which guarantee a certain convergence between the training provided and the real needs of the labor market and contribute to the promotion of the image of vocational training as a lever for development, employment, and social inclusion.”
