OCP Foundation and Morocco, ready to lead the new social model
In line with its desire to strengthen its ecosystem and stakeholders through social innovation and pioneer a new development paradigm, the OCP Foundation, in partnership with the Government of Morocco is deeply committed to supporting and guiding more than 800 Moroccan and African cooperatives.
The OCP Foundation, a division of the OCP Group, focuses on a variety of programmes for sustainable development, including social innovation, agriculture and education. Its dedication to improving social welfare and sustainability is reflected in the Foundation's commitment to promoting social and solidarity economy structures.
The Foundation emphasised its commitment to fostering communication between stakeholders in the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) ecosystem, supporting meaningful SSE initiatives in Morocco and promoting cutting-edge methods and services to support SSE structures.
This programme establishes SSE as a cornerstone of the Foundation's efforts to promote social innovation. OCP has initiated projects to promote social innovation, raise the professionalization of the SSE industry and encourage the creation of women's cooperatives as empowerment organizations to achieve these goals. It is also committed to improving knowledge and expertise in the area of the social and solidarity economy, as stated in its publication entitled "Fostering the emergence of the social and solidarity economy".
To achieve these objectives, the Foundation has introduced a number of programmes, including the "Mourafaka" plan, which focuses on training and mentoring newly established Moroccan cooperatives in the nation's 12 regions; the "Lala Moutaaouina" project, which focuses on cooperative support; and the "Jil Moutadamine" containment plan, which supports young leaders of cooperative projects. At the same time, through the "Rawabit" programme, the Foundation has also started to develop a cooperative networking platform.
The OCP Foundation is aware of the strong influence that the social and solidarity economy has had on social innovation and recognises its role as a catalyst in many areas. This industry is respected as a key pillar in Morocco to promote social inclusion, ethical business practices and sustainable development.
The OCP Foundation seeks to develop, support and integrate innovative, inclusive and sustainable solutions to address the social, economic and environmental challenges facing the continent, particularly in the agricultural and agribusiness sectors. The OCP Foundation is aware of the crucial role that social innovation plays in sustainable development. The three main missions of the foundation are empowerment, incubation and capitalisation, and dissemination. These missions aim to promote and disseminate social innovation.
On the part of Moroccan institutions, support for groups at risk of exclusion is the state's primary social concern. Indeed, in recent months, the economic and food policies pursued by the administration of Aziz Akhannouch and His Majesty King Mohammed VI have included projects to secure food supplies, policies to reduce the tax burden and pharaonic investments in quality job creation projects in the country's main cities and financial centres.