MoU on cybersecurity signed in Rabat
A memorandum of understanding relating to an investment project in the outsourcing sector was signed This week in Rabat between the Ministry of Digital Transition and the French Thales group.
Under the MoU, the French entity is committed to invest more than 350 million dirhams in the cybersecurity sector, through the establishment of a nearshore center to serve its customers internationally, which will create nearly 150 direct jobs with high added value.
Speaking on this occasion, Minister of Digital Transition Ghita Mezzour said that this investment project, which comes in addition to the various projects launched with the many investors who believe in the potential of Morocco, brings the balance of jobs created in the outsourcing sector since November 2021 to more than 15,800 jobs, for an overall investment amount of 1.10 billion DH.
Morocco is among the top three outsourcing destinations on the Continent, and has attracted global IT giants, she noted. Overall, this strategic sector employs more than 125,000 people in more than 1,200 companies.
Given the importance of the human element in digital transformation, the ministry is working on the development of Moroccan IT talents, said the minister, reiterating the government’s commitment to the development and growth of a rich and diverse talent pool in digital.
Outsourcing is a major scope of action of the Ministry, said Mezzour, adding that it is a field that is at the heart of digital development and represents an undeniable provider of jobs.
For his part, CEO of Thales Morocco, Hicham Alj, expressed the honor of the group to partner with the ministry for the creation of this new nearshore center in Morocco, in addition to the group’s sixth international cybersecurity operational center, created in Morocco in March 2022.
“This agreement strengthens our presence of more than forty years in the Kingdom and we plan to open a new branch in Casablanca in 2023,” he said, adding that this center will allow Thales Morocco to address directly the cybersecurity market in Africa but also to assist the group for its international projects.
The Thales group is a world leader in high technology that invests in digital and “deep tech” innovations (connectivity, big data, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and quantum). It offers solutions, services and products that help its customers in the fields of defense, aeronautics, space, transport and digital identity and security.
