Aderrafie Hanouf discusses Casablanca techno-park

08/10/2006

In an interview with Magharebia, Abderrafie Hanouf, general manager of the Casablanca Technopark, summarises the achievements of the first such facility in Morocco.

By Adam Mahdi for Magharebia in Casablanca – 08/10/06

[File] Hanouf

The Casablanca Technopark was created at the end of 2001 to respond to the development of the Moroccan internet and communications technology sector. General manager Abderrafie Hanouf discussed the first-of-its-kind Moroccan facility with Magharebia.

Magharebia: What is the aim of your techno-park in Casablanca?

Abderrafie Hanouf: The techno-park was created in a public-private partnership in 2001 to develop the Moroccan ICT sector by promoting a culture of innovation and increased knowledge-based competitiveness.

Our objectives are to promote businesses in the ICT sector by providing them with workspaces and a high-tech infrastructure, making available a range of high-quality support services and providing co-ordination.

We also provide companies contacts to help integrate them into the business world.

Magharebia: What has the Technopark achieved in the five years since it was created?

Abderrafie Hanouf: We have created a support system which caters to businesses at all stages of their development cycles. We provide a tailored approach with different services according to whether the firm is brand new, developing or mature. This environment encourages sharing, partnership and mutual enrichment.

Skills clusters are being formed in specialist areas such as mobile internet, multimedia, e-commerce, Wi-fi and electronic design.

No fewer than 60 companies are created every year at the site and 300 have made use of its services since 2001, and 160 are currently receiving assistance, and 30 of these were created by Moroccans who decided to return to the ICT field.

The Technopark has helped create 1,200 skilled jobs in five years. There are currently more than 900 skilled workers and engineers working within our various companies. In 2005 our companies generated revenue of over 500m dirhams ($57m), which represents nearly 10% of the value of the entire ICT sector (excluding telecommunications).

Magharebia: Tell us about your incubation site funded by the World Bank.

Abderrafie Hanouf: It was created as part of a world initiative launched by the InfoDev fund to develop incubators to support innovation and entrepreneurship.

InfoDev’s choice of Morocco to host the first regional conference on incubation and entrepreneurship last February shows its recognition of the success of Technopark’s piloting experience. We will also present our model at the next world incubation forum which will be held next November in India.

In three months we will reach our second anniversary.

Magharebia: How do you plan to develop the techno-park?

Hanouf: We plan to work with our partners on deal flow, better-performing mechanisms and investors able to support our start-ups.

We are also working towards obtaining funds to continue delivering a quality of service.

We are also planning to create a "Technopark Company" seal of approval for the pick of our companies to help them integrate more successfully into the market.

The Casablanca techno-park represents a huge achievement for the Moroccan ICT sector. It has proved itself to be a force for development. Our ambition now is to consolidate all these achievements and go even further.

Magharebia: What is your view of the "Contrat progres" contract signed last week by the Moroccan government and the ICT workers’ federation (Apebi)?

Hanouf: I think it will spark a new trend in which public-private joint efforts will enable our sector to achieve rapid growth and development.

We are aiming to increase the sector’s contribution to the economy from 30 billion dirhams ($3.4bn) in 2005 to over 60 billion ($6.8bn) in 2012. We also plan to create 30,000 new jobs directly, not to mention a further 90,000 in off-shoring posts.

The contract has given pride of place to innovation and research and development. The pioneering systems being introduced for the first time in Morocco will definitely contribute to the emergence of an innovative and competitive local industry.