July 2022

Fatim-Zahra AMMOR, Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts and Social and Solidarity Economy chaired, on July 04, 2022 at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), the African Forum of Cooperatives. A first edition marked by the presence of the President of UM6P, representatives of the International Cooperative Alliance (Africa section), players in the cooperative ecosystem, researchers, experts, donors, support structures and support as well as cooperatives.

On the sidelines of the hundredth international day of cooperatives, the forum was organized by the Ministry of Tourism, Crafts and the Social and Solidarity Economy, in partnership with the Office for the Development of Cooperation (ODCO), and the foundation OCP. The objective of the Forum is to create an ecosystem for sharing knowledge and good practices inspired by several cooperative models, in particular, Dutch, French, Canadian and Moroccan.

The Moroccan cooperative sector has experienced real growth under the impetus of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, and is now part of the guidelines of the New Development Model. A model that aims to strengthen the place occupied by the Social and Solidarity Economy in the economy of the Kingdom as well as in the creation of employment.

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To this end, the Ministry’s objective is to bring out new generations of enterprising, competitive and innovative cooperatives thanks to new support approaches, including the CEFE “Economic Competence through Training in the Entrepreneurial Spirit”. A regional meeting was thus held between cooperatives and CEFE facilitators from different countries such as Mali, Germany, Togo, Senegal, the Netherlands and Cameroon, to capitalize on their experience in strengthening entrepreneurial capacities of cooperatives.

In parallel with the work of this forum, Minister Fatim-Zahra Ammor, chaired the crowning ceremony of the young winners of the national “Solidarity Generation” prize, which rewards 39 young innovative cooperative projects with strong economic, social and environmental impacts. It also aims to encourage them to innovate to improve the economic, social and educational conditions of their members.

This award saw the participation of cooperatives of sub-Saharan residents in Morocco, 288 youth cooperatives, and 139 leaders of cooperative projects.

Several sponsors and partners from the public and private sectors have contributed to the financing of these prizes.

The work of the African cooperatives forum was crowned by the development of a roadmap for the preparation of the African cooperatives summit scheduled for 2023 in Morocco.