Today we took a site visit to ANDD, which is the Association for National Digital Development. ANDD was similar to many of the site visits we have already had. When looking at it compared to the Casablanca Technopark, ANDD offers its workshops and other services for free, just like how the technopark offers its incubator services and classes for free, so that the people can succeed rather than just looking for a payment. ANDD also works with women cooperatives to provide them with services like teaching them how to use social media. Today, we heard from one of those cooperatives, and they talked a lot about how they were able to take the information they learned about social media and apply it to their business, which caused the business to grow and reach more types of people. This aspect is similar to the Anou cooperative we heard about, but inside of working with goods like rugs and teaching them how to sell on a website, ANDD teaches more about how to make cosmetics and use a social media page while selling in stores as well.
While ANDD was similar to some places, I would say that there are differences, and what stood out to me was funding. We heard from UM6P, which started receiving funding from OCP and the government to grow. They also mentioned that they have outside sponsorships and different things so that all students’ needs are met. Furthermore, they have a plan for the future on how they want to grow and what ways they would like to go about that. However, when you compare that to ANDD, they do not currently have any funding as they are looking for sponsorships, and they really did not have a plan for the future other than helping as many people as possible. While I understand that they are a new company, this difference really stood out to me because, normally, for companies that are doing good things, you can secure funding quickly. However, that did not seem to be the case in this situation, and I hope that it does not limit their outreach as they are doing great things now, like working with different women’s cooperatives.
In the afternoon, we got to meet with one of the women’s cooperatives that ANDD works with. We discussed how their businesses were affected by ANDD, and they all talked about how learning social media really transformed their businesses for the better and helped them grow far beyond what they thought. One story stuck out to me, and it was the woman who was a seamstress and then ended up as someone who makes Moroccan beauty goods for sale, and she said that it would not have been possible without ANDD teaching her how to do that, and then when she learned social media, it just further expanded her business. To me, it shows how ANDD is there just to help so that people can stand on their own two feet, and how they are using the power of digital tools like social media to do that. All in all, the day was a very informative experience and taught me a lot about Moroccan women and how resilient they are.
