MOROCCO

Contract duration: 21 April 2008 – 30 June 2011. Contract signed with GTZ for a joint EU-GTZ Project in the Moroccan province (Région) of Oriental bordering Algeria. The Project' location was Nador, Oriental’s economic capital with almost 100,000 inhabitants. This province with the surface of Austria stretches from the Mediterranean shore in the North to the Sahara desert in the South. At a later stage, the Province of Al Hoceima bordering Oriental Region in the west has been added to the project area.

Job description:the specific objective of this assignment is fixed as follows: “The region of Oriental avails of a favourable environment to mobilise the migration potential” which is defined as finance (investment) and know-how. Details of the project work can be accessed under www.mideo.ma in three languages (French, English, and German), so that why the following explanations stick to the essentials.

Under that objective six results were to be achieved:

  1. The “Agence de l’Oriental” (Provincial Development Agency) and the Regional Investment Centre (CRI) have elaborated an action plan in a participatory manner aiming at the improvement of the business climate.
    Three participatory diagnostics (agriculture, ecotourism, construction material) were performed whose results were incorporated into the action plan (published in April 2011 by “Agence de l’Oriental”).
  2. The support structures (CRI, Chamber, other service providers) have adapted their service offers to the needs of SMEs and/or Moroccans residing in Europe.
    The services of some Chambers and Investment Centres have been auto-evaluated by the respective staff with the project’s assistance. Three core training programmes (internal communication, Manual about financial procedures, and project engineering to approach international donors for support) have been delivered to all Chambers in the intervention zone.More success has been witnessed with non-governmental service providers: a Diaspora business association has been founded in Nador Province, an all-female business association (including individual enterprises and production cooperatives) saw the light of the day in Al Hoceima, and the Morocco-German Competency Network (DMK) based in Germany has been supported with a web site offering the services of qualified members of the Diaspora. Special attention has been provided to specific training programmes for female entrepreneurs (marketing, setting up of an association). ...