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Rabat – As Morocco slowly recovers from the economic impact of the pandemic, the Moroccan government looks to increase its support for the country’s industrial sector by upgrading investments in “innovative industrial” start-ups.
On Monday in Rabat, Minister of Industry, Trade, and Green and Digital Economy Moulay Hafid Elalamy inaugurated a new program, “Tatwir-Startup in support of industrial projects.”
The program plans to help holders of industrial start-ups. It seeks to develop innovative industrial projects with high added value services.
The program was conceived by the National Agency for the Promotion of Small and Medium Businesses (Maroc PME) and the Federation of the Moroccan Startup Ecosystem (MSEC).
Signing the agreement to implement this program were the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Green and Digital Economy; the Director-General of Maroc PME Brahim Arjdal, and Amine Al-Hazzaz, a founding member of MSEC.
“This program will enable the emergence of more than 5,000 project holders of industrial start-ups or start-ups in industry-related services, which is exceptional,” Al-Hazzaz said. He added that the program also seeks to support “almost 300 start-ups over 3 years.”
Elalamy also commented on the program.
“We have launched this program to unleash the potential of innovative industrial project holders by helping them realize them and strengthen their capacity to contribute to the emergence of Moroccan industrial and technological enterprises and to the promotion of local manufacturing,” he explained.
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The program is part of Morocco’s 2021-2023 Industrial Recovery Plan. The strategic axes of this plan include the development of industrial entrepreneurship, and the emergence of a new Moroccan industrial generation.
This is not the only recent support project for startups in Morocco.
A similar, recently launched initiative is the Agadir Technopark — a new project that seeks to support young entrepreneurs in the city of Agadir. A big part of the project’s portfolio is to help provide training and affordable rent.
Another similar project is the creation in Morocco of the first-ever Plug and Play office in Africa.
According to Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, which launched the initiative in November 2020 in cooperation with Plug Play Tech Center, the project is the first step of a long-term ambition to make Morocco a continental start-up incubator and a regional innovation hub.
Moroccan authorities’ growing interest in innovation and entrepreneurship-oriented initiatives comes as the North African country looks to upgrade its productive and innovative outlook to cement its newfound regional leadership.
Earlier this month, Minister of Industry Elalamy stressed that the promotion of local industrial manufacturing is a significant part of Morocco’s plan to boost productivity and establish itself as an innovation hub .
“Promoting local products is a source of pride for Morocco,” he said.
