Join on WhatsApp 
Join on Telegram Agadir – Entrepreneurs, students, and ecosystem leaders gathered in Agadir on Tuesday, February 24 for “Green Visionaries,” a regional panel event designed to inspire future founders and advance dialogue on clean technologies and sustainable innovation in Morocco.
Organized by Women in Cleantech (WiC), the event took place at the Cité d’Innovation (City of Innovation) in Agadir. It forms part of a broader national effort to strengthen women’s leadership and participation in climate entrepreneurship and green innovation.
The event is a product of Bridgizz, GIZ Morocco and Technopark Souss Massa’s mission to strengthen the local innovation ecosystem while promoting inclusive and sustainable economic development.
Green Visionaries draws on the methodology of Climate Launchpad, widely recognized as the world’s largest green business ideas competition. The initiative supports early-stage innovators in transforming climate-focused concepts into viable commercial ventures through structured boot camps, expert coaching, and access to a global community of entrepreneurs and mentors.
By adapting this framework to the Moroccan context, Women in Cleantech aims to empower women leaders in cleantech and climate innovation, equipping them with the tools, networks, and strategic guidance needed to build impactful and scalable businesses.
Rooted in the family, with women in charge
In an interview with Morocco World News, Women in Cleantech Founder and CEO of Bridgizz and Climate LaunchPad, Ahmed Larouz, shared the story behind the national initiative. “I got the inspiration from family businesses, which are run by women most of the time,” he said. “And we’ve seen all over the world that the most successful businesses, which is the core of the economy, were always the family businesses.”
Larouz spoke to the essential role of women in this arena. “When we talk about family businesses, most of the time they are run by women or women play a very important role in setting up the business or in protecting that business.”
His focus for reach extended beyond entrepreneurs working in cities to women in cooperatives and rural areas. “At a certain time, I was also looking for ways to reinforce women engineers in general and the cooperatives in Morocco.”
Larouz stressed that the idea was not simply to encourage participation, but to integrate women into emerging technological ecosystems, artificial intelligence, digital platforms, and e-commerce so they can expand beyond traditional market limitations.
“Those women are really intelligent, they are smart, but what if we bring them all the technology, what if we bring them the AIs, show them the market and how to do e-commerce, for example.”
“All those aspects made me think about why we should actually pursue women in clean tech and how to build this ecosystem that can inspire women and men at the same time,” he told MWN.
Impact over profit
Larouz opened yesterday’s Green Visionaries event with a speech addressing the importance of impact driven initiatives in creating global change over profit-driven businesses.
While commercial companies focus on generating returns for shareholders, impact driven initiatives serve a social mission without distributing profits.
Larouz points out that clean technology entrepreneurship is one of the few fields that revolves around impact, challenging founders to rethink their priorities. Rather than building companies that chase short-term financial gains, the goal is to create ventures that address global challenges while remaining economically viable.
He further explained that clean technology represents one of the largest and fastest-growing markets globally. It encompasses renewable energy, water management, circular economy solutions, sustainable agriculture, and climate-focused innovation.
These sectors are driven by urgent global needs, energy security, water scarcity, food resilience, and environmental sustainability, making them inherently scalable and internationally relevant.
“We want to build this new generation of startups, of entrepreneurs, to go after impact because the global challenges are much bigger than the problems that we see around us,” he said.
Advancing sustainable innovation
The Green Visionaries panel brought together experts working across entrepreneurship, clean technologies, digital agriculture, artificial intelligence applications, circular economy solutions, and startup strategy. Participants shared insights into the challenges and opportunities of building ventures that are not only commercially viable but also environmentally and socially responsible.
Discussions emphasized the importance of positioning sustainability at the core of emerging business models, particularly as Morocco continues to expand its innovation ecosystem and advance climate-related initiatives.
Panel guest Hayat Id Bihi, co-founder & CTO of HK Solutions as well as of Ecorgrind, spoke to MWN on the sidelines of the event. She argues that gender should not limit ambition or creativity in technology, adding that, as women, “we can start projects based on challenges we face in our daily life.”
She underlined that entrepreneurial and tech initiatives often begin small and grow larger.
“Projects do not start from big things but start from local problems, developing them to get solutions to create bigger projects,” Id Bihi told MWN.
She concluded by commenting that the tech sector has been historically male-dominated, but that is changing.
“We can see that the field was dominated by men for a while but recently we can see that women also are introduced to the field due to a shift in mindset. Women are part of the field now, excelling with their ideas,” Id Bihi commented.
Leadership at the core of entrepreneurship
For her part, another panel guest Khadija Amahal, an international facilitator and soft skills trainer, talked to MWN about the importance of leadership as a core principle that drives the ability to coordinate, inspire, and achieve objectives.
“Leadership is essential in life in general, whether you’re a student, you’re at university, a professor, you’re an entrepreneur, leadership is essential,” she said.
Amahal added that good leadership is grounded in communication, empathy, and emotional intelligence, all of which are crucial for managing diverse teams and stakeholders.
“You deal with people from different backgrounds, from different sectors, so you have to manage your emotions properly to be able to achieve the objectives that you have for a certain activity or an action,” she said.
For entrepreneurs, this ability to navigate interpersonal dynamics ensures that team members are aligned and motivated, and that business goals can be effectively pursued.
For Amahal, it is crucial to nurture these leadership skills early, particularly for women.
“We need to create environments at home, at school, in society, where girls feel confident to lead small initiatives so when they reach a certain age… they do have the mystery tools, knowledge, and skills to lead with confidence and professionalism.”
