For decades, launching an innovative business in Morocco meant being in Casablanca, Rabat or Marrakech, where investors and major clients were concentrated. That model is starting to shift, according to Ali Kettani, an investment banker specializing in startup and SME financing across Morocco and Africa, who argues artificial intelligence and digital tools are opening new possibilities for young people to build businesses without leaving their home regions.
“We are in the middle of a third revolution, after mobile phones and the internet,” Kettani was quoted by Le Matin daily as saying. He described a shift he believes could become a powerful lever for rebalancing economic activity across Morocco’s territories, though he cautioned the trend requires investment in infrastructure, skills and stronger private sector involvement to take hold.
Kettani rejects the idea that Morocco’s regions lack talent, arguing instead that they lack opportunity. “Morocco produces talent across the whole country. As soon as you put in place a center of excellence and the equipment that goes with it, talent appears and finds ways to develop its own opportunities,” he said, pointing to developers and designers already working remotely from mid-sized cities for clients in Morocco, Europe and North America.
Rather than chasing billion-dollar valuations, Kettani argues young entrepreneurs in cities like Beni Mellal, Oujda or Guelmim should first build modest, locally relevant solutions for farmers, cooperatives, hotels or industrial SMEs before scaling elsewhere. He also urged private firms, many wanting AI but lacking the skills, to build stronger bridges with training centers and incubators to absorb young talent.
Looking ahead, Kettani said sectors including agriculture, tourism, crafts, logistics, health and industry offer fertile ground for AI-driven local innovation, but stressed that training programs must be tailored to each region’s needs rather than replicating one urban model, since the priorities of Agadir, Fez, Nador or Laayoune are not the same.
