Morocco - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Australia’s Fortescue partners with OCP Group for green energy development in Morocco

AUSTRALIA'S Fortescue said that it would form a joint venture with OCP Group to supply green hydrogen, ammonia and fertilizers to Morocco, Europe and international markets, as the iron ore miner looks to transform itself into a green energy superpower with a global footprint. Fortescue's equal partnership with the Moroccan fertilizer producer includes the potential development of manufacturing facilities and a research and development hub in Marrakesh. "The partners' objective is to supply green hydrogen and ammonia for use both as sources of green energy and in the manufacture of carbon-neutral and customized fertilizers," Fortescue said. The partners have also proposed…

Mar

2024

By NICHOLAS R. LONGRICH

Duckbill dinosaur discovery in Morocco – expert unpacks the mystery of how they got there

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

WHY are fossils of duckbill dinosaurs, a North American family, found in North Africa? Dinosaurs couldn’t just walk there. Sixty-six million years ago, when duckbills suddenly appear in Africa’s fossil record, the world’s land masses formed a series of islands. A seaway divided eastern and western North America; Europe was an archipelago. South America, India, Australia and Madagascar were all island continents, surrounded by ocean. Africa was an island too – it was impossible to walk there from North America. And yet, somehow, we’ve now found fossils of duckbill dinosaurs in Morocco. The world at the end of the Cretaceous,…

Mar

2024

By AHMED ELJECHTIMI

Morocco reports first legal cannabis harvest of 294 metric tons

BUSINESS

MOROCCO'S first legal cannabis harvest was 294 metric tons in 2023 after the country approved its cultivation and export for medicine and industrial uses, cannabis regulator ANRAC said. The harvest was made by 32 cooperatives that brought together 430 farmers covering 277 hectares in the northern Rif mountain areas of Al Houceima, Taounat and Chefchaouen, ANRAC said in an email to Reuters. The United Nations drugs agency says about 47,000 hectares of the Rif are devoted to cannabis output, roughly a third of the amount in 2003 after government crackdowns. This year, the regulator is examining applications by 1,500 farmers…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

Real Madrid’s Diaz to represent Morocco

FOOTBALL

REAL Madrid winger Brahim Diaz was named in Morocco's squad after deciding to represent the North African team rather than Spain. Diaz was included in Walid Regragui's 24-man roster for the matches against Angola and Mauritania this month, the Moroccan Football Federation said in a statement. The 24-year-old represented Spain in one game and scored against Lithuania in 2021. FIFA rules say players can switch international allegiance as long as they have made fewer than three appearances for a country before the age of 21 and have not played for that nation for at least three years. Former AC Milan…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

Morocco secures land route to deliver aid to Gaza

NEWS

A shipment of humanitarian aid from Morocco for Palestinians in Gaza began entering the besieged enclave via a land route, the first time the Kerem Shalom border crossing from Israel has been used for aid in five months of warfare, a Moroccan diplomatic source said. The 40 tonnes of aid was being delivered by truck into northern Gaza along a route that the Rabat government has been able to secure as it had established diplomatic relations with Israel, the source said. Morocco resumed diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020. "By securing a land route to deliver aid from within Israel,…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

Morocco dinosaur discovery gives clues on why they went extinct

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

66 million years ago, the last dinosaurs vanished from Earth. We’re still trying to understand why. New fossils of abelisaurs – distant relatives of the tyrannosaurs – from North Africa suggest that African dinosaurs remained diverse up to the very end. And that suggests their demise came suddenly, with the impact of a giant asteroid. NICHOLAS R. LONGRICH, Senior Lecturer in Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences at the University of Bath, University of Bath The causes of the mass extinction have been debated for two centuries. Georges Cuvier, the father of palaeontology, thought extinction was driven by catastrophes. Charles…

Feb

2024

By MARK GLEESON

Morocco’s Cup of Nations calamity contrasts with World Cup heroics

FOOTBALL

ANOTHER African Cup of Nations calamity for Morocco keeps up a consistent sequence of failures in the tournament that contrasts starkly with their performance at the last World Cup. Morocco became the first African side to reach the World Cup semi-finals some 14 months ago and went into the Cup of Nations finals as favourites. Before the tournament, they had one loss in 12 games and invested heavily in their preparations, including arriving a week before kick-off in the Ivory Coast to adjust to the severe heat and suffocating humidity. But their hopes ended on Tuesday with elimination in the…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

Court tells Maroc Telecom to pay $636 mln to Inwi in antitrust case

BUSINESS

A Moroccan commercial court ordered market leader Maroc Telecom to pay compensation of 6.36 billion dirhams ($636 million) to its competitor Wana Corporate, better known by its brand name Inwi, for unfair competition practices. Shares of Maroc Telecom, the second-largest company on the Casablanca stock exchange by market capitalisation, fell 9.99% following the first instance verdict. Inwi, the third-largest telecom operator in the country, brought the case in 2021, accusing Maroc Telecom of abusing its dominant position in the market. No one from Maroc Telecom was immediately available to comment on the decision, including the chairman of its management board…

Jan

2024

By DAVIDE LEMMI, MARCO VALENZA, OUMAR SALL and MARCO SIMONELLI

Rather than looking for scapegoats, Morocco is cashing in on South-South migration

NEWS

WHILE the rest of the Maghreb is often in the spotlight over its aggressive approach to African migrants and asylum seekers, Morocco has officially chosen a more tolerant path and is reaping political and economic benefits from that more liberal attitude. Khady Hair, a beauty salon in a neat neighbourhood on the outskirts of the southern city of Agadir, welcomes clients of all nationalities and hair types. Its Senegalese owner, 38-year-old Khady Wade Baldé, has worked hard to build a chain of three salons that employ a dozen workers from Morocco, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire. “At the beginning, it wasn’t easy,”…

Jan

2024

By MARK GLEESON

Favourites Morocco make winning start at Cup of Nations

AFCON 2023

MOROCCO underlined their status as pre-tournament favourites by beating 10-man Tanzania 3-0 to make a winning start to their Africa Cup of Nations campaign as Group F got underway at the Laurent Pokou Stadium on Wednesday. Captain Romain Saiss scored a rare goal to put the World Cup semi-finalists ahead at halftime with Azzedine Ounahi and Youssef En-Nesyri adding two more in the space of three second-half minutes to emphasise their dominance, especially after Tanzania had Novatus Miroshi sent off after a second caution. The convincing scoreline matched the three-goal victory for holders Senegal over the Gambia on Monday, as…