Africa Design Organization: Morocco’s First Platform for Pan-African Design

Rabat – The African Design Organization (ADO) will soon open its doors in Morocco, ADO announced in a press release on September 27, noting that it will be the country’s first organization dedicated to pan-African design.

Co-founded by Moroccan interior architect and designer Hicham Lahlou, stressed the statement, ADO mainly aims to make Morocco a “continental hub” and a “design globe” in Africa by promoting the “made in Morocco” initiative.

According to the press statement, the organization also aspires to promote design education at universities and the establishment of schools and academies in this sector to encourage economic growth and engage youth.

“ADO will be the spokesperson and standard-bearer of design in its transversality in Africa and internationally with bilateral and multilateral diplomacy as its essential foundation,” it said.

The organization will have its headquarters in Morocco and locations in Europe and North America in the near future. It also plans to expand to many countries in Africa, the press release indicated, noting that the newly-founded organization will be a member of the prestigious World Design Organization.

ADO, whose association and foundation are in the process of being created, will have several members from the 54 countries of Africa and the world, the statement further added.

Morocco’s Hicham Lahlou is an international designer and interior architect. He was appointed on March 31 this year as special envoy and advisor to World Design Organization (WDO) President Kusuma for the MENA and Africa regions.

WDO, which celebrates its 65th anniversary in 2022, is a United Nations-recognized global organization committed to the development of design. It has over 180 member organizations with an international network of more than 400,000 designers.