Rhamna, future Silicon Valley | L’Economiste
As a province belonging to the world of the knowledge economy, Rhamna is becoming the Silicon Valley of the Marrakech area and of Morocco as a whole. The province which hosts a large number of startups will, in the medium term, bring together industrial companies with high added value, predicts Yassine Mssefer, director of the Regional Investment Center (CRI) in the Marrakech-Safi region.
Within the Green City of Benguerir, StartGate, Green & Smart Building Park, Green Energy Park, university schools, 70 research laboratories, a supercomputer, a data center… have already emerged. In progress, a TechPark aims to attract national and international players active in innovation and R&D, working on strategic themes in line with the national development strategy and the vision of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), including: agrobioscience, cleantech and renewable energy, minetech, green chemistry, industry 4.0, and ICT, health and pharmaceuticals, logistics, and other sectors. Nearly 188 hectares will be dedicated to innovation. “For sale or for rent, the real estate offer is flexible, adapted to the different needs of users”, says Mounia Lahlou, development director of the Green planning and development company (Société d’aménagement et de développement vert (SADV), in charge of the “green city”. An update on this new infrastructure was made during the Rhamna Investor Day, organized by the CRI of Marrakech-Safi in partnership with the provincial authorities and the OCP OTED initiative.
“Rhamna stands out today as a unique development model”, said Aziz Bouignane, Governor of the province. In terms of investment, Rhamna is doing well according to CRI statistics. Despite the Covid period, some 80 new investors have committed to the province totaling 24.7 billion dirhams of investment. If above all, Rhamna is a phosphate region with its Benguerir open pit mine producing 20% of the Moroccan national production, the province also has agricultural potential in line with its climatic reality. Several experiments have been carried out on different types of agricultural products in this region with excellent results.
The region is in the process of being transformed into an agroindustrial cluster with the creation of the Agropole, the national interest market of Sidi Bou Othmane, as well as an agricultural training center, in addition to the training courses within the UM6P. “Another sector in which there is potential for investment in Rhamna is the health sector”, indicates Professor Gabriel Malka, Director of the Higher Institute of Biological and Paramedical Sciences. “It is in Benguerir that the hospital of tomorrow will be launched”, announces Malka…
Badra BERRISSOULE
