It’s Day 10 in Morocco! And another beautiful day in Rabat!
We started the day off with a site visit to the Technopark of Rabat, where we met with young Moroccans from the Moroccan Center for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (MCISE). Social Entrepreneurship is a term that we haven’t heard so far in Morocco, but I have a grasp on what it entails.
At its core, social entrepreneurship is how you use business models and market-driven strategies to solve problems- from social, cultural, or even environmental problems. Over the past week, we have seen almost every angle of the Moroccan business landscape, from female empowerment of the Anou cooperative, the academic innovation at UM6P, and the commercial tech scaling at the Technopark in Casablanca. What sets MCISE apart is that its primary key performance indicators measure societal impact, unlike places like the Technopark. MCISE aims to create an impact by creating jobs for marginalized groups and closing educational gaps. Their goal is systemic social change, and financial sustainability merely drives it; it’s not the final end goal. Additionally, MCISE is a broader, national incubator of growth. The Anou Women’s cooperative I visited not too long ago, focuses on the beautiful community of craft and women. On the other hand, MCISE is looking to solve social issues all across the country, not just in one village or community. Nonetheless, MCISE emphasizes that you can both make a profit and positively impact the environment at the same time.
Throughout this visit, I was brainstorming how MCISE’s work is similar to ANDD’s, and how it could help in our deliverables. Even though ANDD is a public agency and MCISE is an incubator, they both are, at their core, ecosystem builders that exist to create an environment where startups and people within the Moroccan society can thrive! Similarly, ANDD also measures its success by societal advancement and is working to bridge the digital divide. Also, rather than just pushing out a product for profit, MCISE emphasizes growth upon root problems and offering solutions- similar to how ANDD operates, however, on a broader scale- think Moroccan Government. Now, going into my site visit tomorrow, I can draw upon these concepts and push to uncover how ANDD’s policies impact citizens and just how inclusive the social inclusion aspect is. These are some things to now think about, and I’m grateful for the MCISE for taking the time to speak with us. Not to mention, the assortment of cookies they laid out for us to try were amazing!
After lunch, we were back at the CCCL for a discussion on AI with Zouheir Lakhdissi (really cool guy!). He was on Shark Tank Morocco, so I basically met a celebrity today! After our discussion, my project group got together to discuss our game plan for tomorrow’s site visit to ANDD, and overall, I am positive that even with the time crunch this week (with our site visit being the last), we will make headway with our work. For the remainder of the day, I thoroughly enjoyed the beach. We started off by basking in the sun while at an oceanside cafe, where I got myself an iced latte, and then migrated over to the beach to tan and enjoy the weather.
Today has been a calm and innovative day in the city of Rabat. Tomorrow brings my team’s site visit to ANDD, and then the chaos starts! Until then, I’m soaking up my time in Morocco and seeing where the wind takes me…