ICT

Economic growth, coupled with the liberalisation of the sector in the 1990s, has led to the expansion of Morocco’s ICT sector, which is also underpinned by high penetration levels, as well as policies conducive to the development of related services and their incorporation into everyday business activities. Meanwhile, a focus on e-government and the digitisation of the economy – along with improvements to mobile data services, which are playing an ever-greater role – are likely to lead to continuing positive performance. The mobile telecoms segment is the most dynamic in the industry, with mobile data services leading the way. Although it still lags behind telecoms in terms of dynamism, the IT sector will likely benefit from the implementation of the government’s Digital Morocco Plan 2020. By establishing a dedicated agency for IT development, Moroccan authorities have underlined the importance for the country’s future development of transitioning to a digital economy. However, for the strategy to succeed, efforts to bridge the digital divide and increase penetration must be kept on track. This chapter contains interviews with Saloua Karkri-Belkeziz, President, Federation of Information Technologies, Telecommunications and Offshoring, and President, Gfi Africa; and Mehdi Alaoui, Founder and CEO, LaFactory, and Vice-president, Moroccan Federation of IT, Telecommunications and Offshoring.