Morocco Secures Spot Among Forbes 5 Most Innovative African Countries

Rabat – After hosting Africa’s largest tech convention Gitex in 2023, Morocco is continuing to solidify its position as a continental leader in innovation.

In a recent ranking from Forbes Afrique, Morocco was featured on a short list of Africa’s top five most innovative countries.

Morocco secured the third spot on the ranking following Mauritius and South Africa. According to the report, Morocco “asserts itself as one of the African leaders in innovation.”

The country boasts a young well-educated tech-savvy population that includes over 500,000 developers and has earned the support of several large corporations including Amazon, Microsoft, and Orange among others. The country is equally home to a flourishing startup ecosystem.

While the country still has some time before it can establish itself as a startup nation, in 2021, fundraising for Moroccan startups reached an all-time high level of MAD 269 million ($29 million), according to Techcabal, an African startup news platform.

Forbes Afrique report further showcased Morocco’s continuously expanding green energy production sector. The North African country is at the forefront of Africa’s green energy transition.

Morocco has one of the continent’s most ambitious green energy agendas. The country aims to source 52% of its electricity from renewables by 2030. As of 2023, green electricity accounted for 19% of overall production.

The country’s renewable energy ambitions are backed by concrete data as it aims to add approximately 3.6 gigawatts (GW) of new solar and wind capacity, excluding increasing demand, a report from the Global Energy Monitor indicates.

A significant portion of this capacity, 41 GW, is already committed to hydrogen production or direct electricity export to Europe, the report shows.

Beyond green energy production, the country has significantly boosted its industrial capabilities under a dedicated state strategy. Morocco has held Africa’s biggest car manufacturing industry since 2018 when the country overtook South Africa.

Across Morocco, the government set up “reference technopoles” in cities such as Casablanca, Rabat, Essaouira, among others. The country currently has more than 138 industrial zones and 12 industrial acceleration zones.

Through a number of state projects, Morocco was home to over 12,000 hectares of developed and under-development industrial land as of 2023.

The Forbes Afrique report describes Morocco’s industrial strategy as a “recipe that pays off,” adding that “year after year, Morocco is among the handful of countries to outperform in innovation relative to their level of development.”