It’s another day in Rabat! Today we learned about two new areas that we haven’t discussed much yet on the trip: social entrepreneurship and AI. We started with a site visit to The Moroccan Center for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (MCISE) and then went back to CCCL after lunch for a discussion on AI with Zouheir Lakhdissi (who also happened to be on Shark Tank Morocco!).

During my first semester freshman year I completed the ChangeMaker Series through the Big Ideas Center, which I feel like introduced me to the idea of social entrepreneurship slightly, but I now know a lot more. Social entrepreneurship (from what I now understand) is when businesses are created to solve problems for specific groups of people, communities, or places. MCISE helps social entrepreneurs solve problems by providing them with the support and infrastructure to scale their businesses. Innovation/entrepreneurship is still seen as very new and risky in Morocco, so it becomes even more important that entrepreneurs feel encouraged to keep going and refining their ideas, especially during the beginning stages of their businesses.

MCISE rents space in Casablanca Technopark (which we visited earlier) and is providing similar services as Startgate (which we also learned about earlier). However, unlike Startgate, MCISE mainly receives foreign investment to sustain itself rather than funding from the Moroccan government. MCISE still sells its services to the Moroccan government to generate more revenue streams for itself but has decided to retain some more autonomy from it. I thought this was really interesting as it sets MCISE apart from all the entrepreneurial sites we visited this far (which were government funded). This has also definitely made me realize the fact that UM6P is funded by the government could definitely be a weakness for the university; there become many more opinions and personal objectives to consider when decisions need to be made. I am still unclear as to the types of startups/entrepreneurs UM6P and Startgate host, but I imagine many would consider themselves social entrepreneurs. With this, I think UM6P could really benefit from more courses/coursework on social entrepreneurship and the different business models that exist to make their students more aware of the variety that exists. UM6P and MCISE have different business models, but both have been very successful, and I think this would be very interesting for aspiring student entrepreneurs who will eventually have to decide how they want to structure their businesses.

With their focus on social entrepreneurship, I also learned that MCISE has a preference towards value funding, requiring the startups it supports to reach certain objectives before they receive more funding. I am unsure how UM6P and Startgate evaluate their startups but think this could also be a very helpful strategy to implement. It was really inspiring hearing about all the startups under MCISE that are creating real change in the world, including one that has victims of domestic violence baking and selling bread to gain financial autonomy from abusers. I really want the work I am doing in the future to be impactful, and that’s why I choose to reflect more on social entrepreneurship now. It reminded me more of the humanity that exists in the world (the complete opposite of AI).

I also really enjoyed all the cookies served during our visit to MCISE, the bubbly orange juice I had with my lunch today, and getting my first henna tattoo after our sessions today! I’m hoping to get back out and sit by the beach for a little while! Until tomorrow, bye blog!