What happened
Artificial intelligence was at the heart of Moroccan public debate in early November 2026. On Tuesday 10 November, Ahmed Rahhou, the minister whose department covers the digital transition and administrative reform, presented his roadmap to a committee of the House of Representatives. In the same week, two announcements illustrated the momentum of the sector: an « AI factory » at Tanger Med with the American chip giant Nvidia, and the launch of a Moroccan farming model at an international event in Rome.
A legal framework rather than a ban
According to Hespress, the minister told MPs that the government was preparing a legal and regulatory framework for AI. In his view, banning the technology would be « the riskiest option »: the aim is rather to supervise its uses, protect personal data and encourage local innovation. Ahmed Rahhou, a former president of the Competition Council, joined the government formed on 16 October 2026; Maroc Hebdo describes his portfolio as Morocco's first ministry explicitly dedicated to AI.
He also acknowledged that the share of public procurement going to Moroccan start-ups remained « insufficient », and said that 4 « Jazari » institutes, regional centres dedicated to digital skills and AI, had been activated.
Moroccan data for Moroccan AI
One of the challenges raised before MPs concerns data. To train models adapted to the country, the administration is working on digitising around 400,000 pages of the Official Bulletin and on building a corpus of about 10,000 hours of audio in darija, Moroccan Arabic, Hespress reports. These resources should serve public services such as the Idarati administrative portal.
The Maroc IA 2030 targets
The national strategy « Maroc IA 2030 », organised around 3 axes and 10 programmes, sets ambitious targets: 100 billion dirhams of added value, 50,000 jobs and 200,000 people trained by 2030, according to L'ODJ. These are targets, not results already achieved.
An « AI factory » at Tanger Med
On 3 November, CIRES Technologies, the digital subsidiary of the Tanger Med group, announced with Nvidia the creation of an « AI factory », Maghrebnaute reports. Built on Nvidia HGX B300 servers and a platform called CIRES MIND, it is intended for port logistics and smart-city applications. No investment amount has been disclosed.
DeepLeaf: AI for farmers
The same day, in Rome, the Moroccan start-up DeepLeaf, founded in Sidi Bennour, launched a model that diagnoses plant diseases from photos of leaves. The launch took place with the AI Hub for Sustainable Development, an initiative backed by UNDP, the G7 and Italy. The tool is to be deployed in 7 countries, Bladi reports.
What remains to be confirmed
- The content of the legal framework. No draft law or decree on AI had been published at the time of writing.
- The timetable. The minister did not give a date for presenting the text to Parliament, according to the sources we consulted.
- The details of the Tanger Med project. The amount invested and the start date of the « AI factory » have not been made public.
Sources
- Maroc Hebdo — Première historique : le Maroc se dote d'un ministère de l'IA
- Bladi.net — Une intelligence artificielle marocaine va servir de base à des outils agricoles dans sept pays
- Maghrebnaute — Maroc : CIRES et Nvidia s'associent pour développer une usine d'IA dédiée aux ports et aux villes intelligentes
- L'ODJ — Intelligence artificielle : le Maroc fixe ses objectifs à l'horizon 2030
- Hespress FR — Maroc : le gouvernement prépare un cadre réglementaire pour l'intelligence artificielle
