Feb 08, 2026
3 min read
Morocco is betting on investing in artificial intelligence to boost economic growth, and experts believe that the low-cost renewable energy available in the city of Dakhla offers a huge opportunity to invest in data centers.
How is Morocco trying to change the artificial intelligence in England?
Morocco announced its strategic push on artificial intelligence to boost economic growth, aiming to add 100 billion dirhams ($11 billion) to its gross domestic product by 2030, create 50,000 jobs and a program to train 200,000 digital talents.
This ambition is based on three interconnected pillars: low-cost renewable energy, which provides operational benefits to data centers, sovereign digital infrastructure, and well-trained young human capital.
List 4 items Real data faces serious challenges in this ambition for large projects, most notably a massive 500 megawatt data center project in the city of Dakhla on the Atlantic coast.
Morocco aims to transform artificial intelligence from just an innovative technology into an economic engine capable of generating tangible benefits.
According to data analytics expert Youssef Saud, the economic potential here goes beyond traditional savings and "reengineering production costs." While the European Union faces rising industrial electricity costs, with prices exceeding $160 per megawatt hour, Morocco offers renewable energy for less than $50.
Saud added in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that this price difference increases the net profit, and he noted that the "natural cooling" technology available in the city of Dakhla reduces the energy efficiency factor to 1.1 (international average between 1.6 and 1.8), which reduces cooling consumption by 40% compared to international centers.
Economist Amin Sami confirmed that Dahla Wind will not be a profitable business if it is not transformed into a digital energy system, unless strong electricity is produced and stored to ensure its sustainability and reduce the time it takes to leave the home system in Morocco to reach another country and return.
Sami believes that wind resources, the availability of political will, the existence of laws regulating the protection of personal data (UU 09-08) and talking about the urgent need for a national vision in the cloud and a sovereign data center are a strong basis for transforming Dakhla into a global destination.
A budget of 11 billion dirhams ($1.2 billion) has been allocated for the implementation of the digital transformation process between 2024 and 2026, related to smart investment projects and expanding the implementation of fiber-optic infrastructure.
Regarding the adequacy of financial allocations for the digital transformation strategy, IT and digital transformation consultant Amin Sunny explains that this budget is significant compared to previous budgets.
In a statement to Al Jazeera Net, Sunouni confirmed that Morocco does not aim to compete with the United States (which invests $500 billion in artificial intelligence), China or the EU (with more than $50 billion each) for manufacturing processors, but to develop an "authority system" through three levers: infrastructure, capacity building, and research and innovation.
Senouni adds that this will give Morocco a "first position" that will allow it to improve its global ranking in the field of intelligence.
On the other hand, Saud sees this budget as a key to the gates of the global investment of billions of dollars, led by companies such as "Nvidia" and "Oracle", which realized that the future of artificial intelligence requires not only powerful processors, but also continuous, low-cost energy, which the winds and sun of the Moroccan desert provide par excellence.
He believes the billion-dollar investment is a strategic investment by Morocco to connect Dakhla to an international submarine cable, transforming it from an isolated city into an "Atlantic data gateway" linking Europe with Africa and South America.
Morocco has vast data ready for immediate investment in AI, transforming sectors of the Moroccan economy into more efficient and profitable systems.
Saudi pointed out that the kingdom's telecommunications sector (with 56 million subscribers) and the financial sector produce millions of "data points" that can be analyzed using artificial intelligence to improve networks and reduce artificial risks by 25%.
The data expert also claims that the use of artificial intelligence algorithms can provide a number of economic benefits, including providing retailers with smart options when shopping to recommend stocking additional products they like, which will encourage them to buy more. Artificial intelligence can also allow tourism workers to predict the pace of visitor numbers and adjust hotel room rates and travel offers, increasing revenues by 10 to 15 percent during peak season.
Morocco's location is attracting international companies looking for cheap, sustainable energy sources to avoid Europe's "carbon tax," according to a spokesman.
Dakla's model shows that clean energy abundance is a "geopolitical lever" that compensates for shortfalls in the direct budget, making Morocco a "secure and sustainable sovereign choice" in a world characterized by data and urgent energy needs.
Morocco aims to provide 50,000 jobs related to artificial intelligence and to train and certify 200,000 talents in the sector by 2030, but this appears to be conditional and there are challenges.
Amin Sununi, who teaches information and data science - believes that the training target number is achievable. Based on previous experience, he has increased the number of trainees from 14,000 to 100,000 annually in the digital field.
But the real challenge, as Snuni points out, is not just training, but retaining capacity. Without favorable working conditions, competitive wages and promotion of innovative projects, the brain drain will continue.
On the other hand, Youssef Saud, a data analysis expert, warns that there is a "worrying gap" in the AI strategy, as the strategy is talking about adding value estimated at 100 billion dirhams, but only 50,000 jobs will be created.
As Saud explains, every AI job globally replaces four to five traditional jobs and risks “jobless growth” as wealth is concentrated among a technically limited elite without a broad impact on the labor market.
Morocco launched the "Jazari Institutes" project, which is a network of regional centers of excellence in the field of artificial intelligence, in addition to the "Jazari Root" center in Rabat, to be the main axis and engine of this network.
Morocco also signed a cooperation agreement with the French company "Mistral" to support the development of artificial intelligence tools, with the aim of making it a center of excellence in the field of artificial intelligence and data science in the future.
Amin Sami claimed that the partnership aims to accelerate the creation of Moroccan artificial intelligence with national specifications by transferring not only software but technical capabilities, through the "Mistral" project to develop generative tools and the "One Point" project to establish an excellence in data and artificial intelligence.
It is emphasized that the goal is not to use off-the-shelf solutions, but to create an integrated local production chain including design, training, control, deployment and audit, supported by sovereign data centers in Dakhla.
Sami concluded that Morocco aims to have data linked to national laws to protect personal data, enabling artificial intelligence to serve national languages, cultures and local governments.
