Think Forward.

Politics

AFCON 2025: The Trophy that Sets the Savannah Ablaze.. 169

Aziz Daouda, 6 h.
- Politics - Society - Sports -
2.4 min read.
There are moments when football stops being a game and becomes a brutal revealer of a continent's institutional and political fragilities. The current crisis surrounding the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is the perfect illustration. Between the rigorous application of regulations, the credibility of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), media pressure, and reactions from the Senegalese Football Federation, the affair now extends far beyond sports into a much broader realm, intertwining law, sovereignty, and diplomacy. At its origin, a disciplinary decision that, under normal circumstances, would have been a simple sporting dispute. But the context, symbolism, and players involved have turned this file into a full-blown crisis. The CAF, as the regulatory body, faces a fundamental demand: to enforce its own rules without yielding to pressure. Any weakness in applying the law would open the door to widespread challenges to its authority, including revisiting past decisions and verdicts. In this sense, the decision taken, however contested, fits into a logic of institutional preservation. However, law, as essential as it is, cannot be entirely divorced from its political and emotional environment. Today's events provide perfect proof. The Senegalese side's reaction, perceived as an offense or challenge to the decision, reveals a deeper malaise: a sense of injustice, real or supposed, amplified by a public opinion whipped into a frenzy by a flood of increasingly belligerent statements and remarks. Social media, TV panels, and certain official discourses have turned a legal matter into a symbolic clash between nations. In response, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation remains silent, stoic, calm, and discreet. This is where the main danger lies. Beyond texts and procedures, it is historical relations, built over decades of solidarity and brotherhood, that are now exposed to unnecessary tension. African football, long presented as a vector of unity, risks here becoming a factor of division. And this drift, if not contained, could leave lasting scars. That's precisely what the occult forces, or not so occult, stoking the fire are aiming for. In this climate of escalation, the temptation is great for each side to harden its position. Yet, the history of sports conflicts shows that escalation is rarely a solution. It weakens institutions, undermines competition credibility, and, above all, distances the public from the essentials: fair and credible play. The central question then becomes: how far will this showdown go? A peaceful outcome necessarily requires a return to calm and reason. This does not mean renouncing one's rights or silencing disagreements, but framing them in a controlled manner. Appeal mechanisms exist, whether through direct sports jurisdictions or, if necessary, the international body that is the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Its role is precisely to settle such disputes with impartiality and rigor. Awaiting the verdict from this body, even if it is slow, means accepting that law takes precedence over emotion. It also means recognizing that the credibility of African football's components depends on their ability to resolve disputes in line with the rules they have set for themselves. Any other path, pressure, excessive politicization, or media confrontation, would only entrench and worsen the crisis. At its core, this affair raises an essential question about the governance model for African football. A model subject to power plays and momentary emotions, or one based on solid, respected institutions capable of enforcing the law, even when it stings? Ultimately, African football bodies didn't fall from the sky. They are the emanation of a democratic process in which Africa's 54 countries participate in good conscience. The answer to this question will determine not only the outcome of this crisis but also the future of football on the continent. Beyond the present case, the credibility of an entire sports architecture is at stake. In the immediate term, one thing is clear: the time for appeasement must follow that of confrontation and escalation. Preserving the essentials and consolidating fraternity among African peoples is worth far more than a sports victory, even an Africa Cup of Nations trophy. Alas, this is beyond those whose vision doesn't extend past the end of their nose. The CAS will speak soon. Then we'll see who is right or wrong under strict application of the law, with no further recourse possible except a return to reason. Wouldn't it be better, in the meantime, to keep a cool head, maintain lucidity, and calm down? A trophy is only raised when it is deserved—truly deserved.

Faceless War, Disoriented World, Trapped Citizen... 173

Aziz Daouda, 6 h.
- Politics - Philosophy -
2.6 min read.
There was a time when war made sense, or at least appeared to. It pitted identifiable camps against each other, produced winners and losers, and sometimes ended in peace, even imperfect peace, sometimes signed in a train car. Before that, it unfolded in battles for which appointments were even set, far from civilians. They observed each other, sized one another up, and collectively decided the start time of the clashes. A true war of the brave. There were always winners and losers. Thank cinema for reliving those scenes, more or less romanticized, but scenes nonetheless... From World War I to the Cold War, closer to us, conflicts, however tragic, followed a certain historical intelligibility. Since then, joysticks have crept in, and computers have taken over... Things changed; dare we say: they dehumanized. Contemporary war, as it emerges in the triangular confrontation between the United States, Israel, and Iran, seems to have broken with that old logic. It's no longer just complex: it's become ungraspable, unintelligible to ordinary mortals like us. It doesn't just oppose forces; it dissolves the very landmarks that once allowed us to understand what war is. Who is the victor? Who is the vanquished? The question feels almost out of place. For this modern war produces no clear verdict, but a succession of competing narratives saturated with propaganda, disinformation, and what we now call "fakes." Truth itself becomes a battlefield, fragmented, manipulated, inaccessible. Lies are baked into the system. Reality wavers and fades. Yet lives are lost in anonymity, buildings surely turned to mush, billions of dollars vanished, likely burned in milliseconds by traders, exploded without a trace except by making poor people everywhere. In this war, roles seem interchangeable. One of those who triggered the hostilities seeks to extricate itself, as if suddenly discovering the vertigo of what it initiated. The second? Who knows. Its war logic has long been impenetrable. It presents itself as the aggressed party, refuses all negotiation, or pretends to, while expanding the theater of operations. The one retaliating, the third protagonist, loses its leaders, gets hammered daily for over a month, yet seems driven by an endless escalation logic too. Toward what horizon? It strikes beyond its declared adversaries without provoking proportional reactions. Part of its war is waged against those who don't want it and resist with all their might, without retaliation. How long will this last? We must ask: what does "winning" mean in a war with no clear limits or identifiable final objective? We are thus confronted with a profound mutation of war: it is no longer a means in service of a political end, as once thought, but an autonomous, self-sustaining process, almost abstract. A war that no longer aims for peace, but for its own perpetuation. And yet, this distant war is not so distant. Beyond strategies and rhetoric, it's civil societies that pay the price. Here in Morocco, elsewhere in the world, the effects hit with silent brutality. Energy prices climb, threatening psychological thresholds unthinkable just forty days ago: 20 dirhams per liter of gasoline soon. Tomatoes, fish, chicken, lentils, and the rest will follow... Anxiety is very real. The economy becomes war prolonged by other means. The citizen becomes an adjustment variable. It's they who foot the bill. Even when they don't want war, they must still pay for it, wherever they are, even at the ends of the earth. Faced with this, governments seem powerless. They dust off old solutions, already tested and already ineffective, as if economic history itself were trapped in eternal recurrence. This political impotence amplifies the sense of injustice and abandonment. Thus arises the question, almost metaphysical: what have we done to deserve this? This so-human question may be ill-posed. For it assumes an immanent justice in the world's course, a moral logic linking our acts to our collective fate. Yet the tragedy of our era is precisely the absence of that coherence. The world is not just: it is unstable, chaotic, traversed by forces beyond us. Perhaps that's the price of calling ourselves democratic, living in or under democracies... or not. Perhaps we need to rephrase the question. Not: why is this happening to us? But: how to keep living in a world where meaning slips away beneath our staggering feet? That is probably the true philosophical challenge of our time. Not understanding war, for it now escapes classical understanding, but preserving, despite everything, a capacity to think, to resist confusion, to refuse letting lies become the norm. If modern war is faceless, endless, and truthless, then the only possible victory is internal to each of us: upholding, against all odds, a demand for lucidity, a touch of humanism, hope, a dream.

African Football: Between Emotional Populism and Institutional Order.. 737

Aziz Daouda, 3 d.
- Politics - Sports -
3.3 min read.
The CAF dealt the Senegal national football team an implacable administrative defeat, awarding a default victory to the Moroccan national team in the 2025 AFCON final. This sanction, rooted in the CAF's disciplinary regulations, punishes any abandonment of the pitch, even if temporary. At one point in the match, the Senegalese coach consciously decided to have his players leave the field. Only one remained on the pitch. Under football rules, a match requires at least seven players on the field to continue to its conclusion. Despite winning after a rollercoaster extra time, the team paid the price for blatant indiscipline: unleashed supporters, partial pitch invasion, assaults and injuries, prolonged interruption during which the players returned to the locker rooms on their coach's dramatic order. Forget the simplistic narrative of a "Morocco vs. Senegal" clash that some, particularly on the Senegalese side, push to imply political motives. Nothing could be further from the truth. The affair stems from an initial clash between the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) and the CAF. The FRMF asked the CAF to apply its own rules and those of FIFA, questioning their non-enforcement. Recall that the Moroccan national team strictly followed the referee's directives, even resuming play alone on the pitch for 14 minutes while the Senegalese headed to the locker rooms. The question, then, is: why did the referee refrain from applying the rules? The answer lies in the CAF's backrooms. A "CAF official" allegedly ordered the referee to flout the rules and not sanction the team that left the pitch. The FRMF took the matter to the CAF's bodies, which referred it to its Disciplinary Committee, normally chaired by a Senegalese. For convenience's sake, this committee rejected the FRMF's request. Far from giving up, surprised by the decision, the FRMF appealed. In appeal, it is not members who decide, but independent judges selected across the continent. The ruling was unequivocal: applying the rules, the Moroccan national team is declared the 2025 AFCON winner. The dispute between the FRMF and the CAF thus ended. Up to this point, the matter is purely sporting. The Senegalese Football Federation (FSF), unhappy with the Appeal Jury's ruling and defending the on-pitch result, refers the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Senegal does not merely contest the decision: it launches a frontal assault on regulatory sovereignty, legally demanding an international corruption probe into the bodies. It is the Senegalese government that responds to the CAF and escalates the case. To prove corruption, it will need to identify the corrupted party and the corrupter... Through its decision, the CAF prioritized law over on-pitch emotion—an emotion unfortunately fueled off-pitch by the stupidity of those who, for a few more followers or AdSense dollars, spread indescribable hatred between two brotherly peoples. This is not a Senegal-Morocco issue, but a sporting one between the FRMF and the CAF, and between the FSF and the CAF. Some reminders are in order for the instigators on both sides, without defending the CAF and its bodies, which will answer the corruption accusations. The CAF's regulatory fortress rests on three impregnable pillars, bolstered by these regulation excerpts: **WITHDRAWALS** **ARTICLE 82** If, for any reason, a team withdraws from the competition or fails to appear for a match, or refuses to play or leaves the pitch before the regulatory end of the match without the referee's authorization, it will be deemed to have lost and will be definitively eliminated from the ongoing competition. The same applies to teams previously disqualified by CAF decision. **ARTICLE 84** The team that breaches the provisions of Articles 82 and 83 will be definitively excluded from the competition. It loses the match 3-0. If the opposing team was leading by a more favorable score at the time of the match stoppage, that score will be maintained. Additional measures may be taken by the Organizing Committee. The three pillars underpinning the decision are thus: **Absolute compliance**: Article 82 defines any team withdrawal as abandonment, triggering automatic forfeit. The 14 Senegalese minutes fall squarely under it, without ambiguity. **Mechanical proportionality**: The sanction is not discretionary; it flows verbatim from the texts and is validated by CAS jurisprudence. **Institutional primacy**: The referee tolerated a de facto resumption under pressure, but the CAF holds the power to rule on discipline. What will the CAS say if it is indeed seized by the Senegalese side? Conservative by nature, the CAS never positions itself as a sports judge; it upholds bodies when rules are clear. As an inflexible guardian of stability, it will reject any Senegalese "symbolic legitimacy." To prevail, Senegal must outmaneuver: invoke a resumption invalidating the abandonment, a "disproportionate" sanction, or the "spirit of the game." Fragile ploy: the CAS has systematically dismissed such escapes when texts are explicit. Several African federations, including the FRMF in the 2015 AFCON affair, as well as various clubs and CAF-affiliated associations, have appealed to the CAS against sanctions for forfeits, withdrawals, or regulatory breaches. In these cases, the CAS has consistently favored a strict reading of applicable regulations, dismissing arguments based on force majeure or mitigating circumstances when texts provided for automatic sanctions. The affair's outcome will inevitably be the CAF's victory, confirming the Appeal Jury's judgment. The Senegalese forfeit will be upheld, the title confirmed for Morocco. Jurisprudence will emerge strengthened by the triumph of law, shielding future competitions from chaos. One slim surprise remains possible: a replay or revision if the CAS rules the abandonment was not definitive. But will it risk unprecedented instability by overriding such clear rules? This is not a matter of interpretation, but of pure rule application. The CAS will crown the CAF, exposing Senegal's precarious position. Far from a bilateral duel, this crisis pits rule respect against populist temptation. Law will prevail: the CAF will reaffirm its sovereignty, for an African football governed by legislation, not emotional riots. The 2025 AFCON, not confiscated, will mark the consolidation of a continental legal order.

Oil Taxation, Aid Efficiency, and Social Justice: What Strategy for Morocco Facing Energy Shocks? 1160

Aziz Daouda, 6 d.
- Politics - Business -
2.8 min read.
When the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, global energy markets were brutally disrupted. The barrel price crossed historic thresholds, triggering an immediate surge in pump prices in net importer countries like Morocco. In response, the government opted for direct aid to transporters to contain inflation and prevent pass-through to goods and services prices. However, the experience revealed its limits. Despite the subsidies, transport prices did indeed rise, pulling up the cost of all products and services in their wake. This gap between intention and reality raises a central question: how to effectively cushion an energy shock in a liberalized economy without widening inequalities or fueling rents? The decision to specifically aid transporters rested on the implicit assumption that they would act as shock absorbers, absorbing part of the increase. Yet, in a market with tight margins and fierce competition, it is economically rational for operators to pass on costs to fares, despite public support. Several factors explain this relative failure: - Lack of binding mechanisms. No strict obligation prevented pass-through to final prices. - Windfall effect. Some companies received aid without altering their pricing policy. - Targeting difficulties. Aid benefited a specific segment without ensuring a broad, lasting impact on the economy. This observation is all the more troubling since Morocco remains heavily dependent on refined product imports following the closure of the Samir refinery. Today, tensions around the Strait of Hormuz are reigniting fears of a new oil shock. This maritime corridor, through which about 20% of global oil transits, is a critical chokepoint in worldwide energy supply. Any disruption sends prices soaring and, mechanically, pump prices in Morocco. States worldwide have adopted varied strategies, with mixed results: - Price caps. Effectiveness is immediate, with tariff shields on electricity and gas, sometimes paired with fuel caps. These measures contain short-term inflation at the cost of very high budgetary expense, disincentives to energy sobriety, and windfalls for the wealthiest consumers. - Direct transfers. A social but imperfect response. Some countries issued energy checks or lump-sum aid to households. Politically popular, these tools are often criticized for their inflationary nature, lack of precise targeting, and risk of fostering dependence on one-off aid. - Tax modulation, a structural lever. Several states, like Austria, Spain, Italy, or Japan, chose to temporarily cut fuel taxes to limit pump price hikes. This approach directly affects the final price paid by all consumers, without intermediaries. It relies on principles of readability and shared effort between the state and users. In Morocco's case, a significant portion of the pump price consists of taxes—such as TIC and VAT—which heavily influence the per-liter price and give the state major leverage in price formation. Temporarily reducing these taxes would establish an explicit shock-sharing mechanism between the state and citizens, rather than concentrating aid on one sector. This option offers several advantages: - Universality: it benefits everyone, from truck drivers to salaried workers using their car for commuting. - Transparency: the reduction is immediately visible at the pump, boosting trust and the readability of public action. - Economic efficiency: it directly lowers fuel costs. - Social justice: by forgoing part of the fiscal rent on a now-essential product, the state clearly shoulders its share of the effort. Targeted and temporary reduction of oil taxation thus emerges as the most effective and democratic solution to cushion an energy quake. This path is not new in Moroccan debate, as evidenced by the widespread support via the Compensation Fund, phased out from 2015 onward. Lightening fuel costs through subsidies has already been implemented without achieving the theoretically expected results. Need we remind? Any tax reduction, if enacted, cannot be unlimited or permanent but must be strictly time-bound, calibrated to budgetary capacity, and linked to broader hydrocarbon market reform (competition, margins, strategic storage, reopening or alternative to national refining capacity). In other words, tax modulation should not be a short-term reflex but the tool of a comprehensive energy security strategy. Morocco faces a strategic choice: persist with one-off aid to transporters or embrace shock-sharing via taxation. If it chooses the latter and loses short-term revenue, it will gain in social cohesion and economic predictability, with three key lessons: - Prioritize direct mechanisms via taxation, a key pump price component, as the most effective tool for rapid, universal, and democratic action. - Avoid market distortions. Targeted aid without strict controls produces opposite effects; it fuels rents without protecting the end consumer. - Think long-term. Energy issues cannot be divorced from industrial sovereignty (refining, storage) and state budgetary resilience. Beyond conjunctural management, it is a true social contract around energy that must be rethought. In a country where the car is both a work tool, a means of access to essential services, and a vector of mobility, fuel price is a deeply political issue at the intersection of social justice and budgetary sustainability. Rather than multiplying one-off devices for a single sector, Morocco would benefit from a more systemic approach based on fiscal transparency, equity, and economic efficiency. Fuel tax modulation, as a universal and immediate lever, better meets democratic demands. It is a more credible response to current shocks and those to come.

Africa Cup of Nations 2025: When the Victim Becomes the Culprit... 1838

Aziz Daouda, 9 d.
- Politics - Sports -
2.6 min read.
The reaction of Tunisian Hatem Trabelsi, former defender for Ajax Amsterdam and Manchester City, and a beIN consultant for several years, to the CAF Appeal Jury's decision, widely shared on social media, goes beyond mere sports commentary. It subtly reveals the narrative tensions, divergent perceptions, and symbolic stakes surrounding Morocco's successes in African football today. In his statement, Hatem Trabelsi highlights a classic phenomenon in African competitions under the Confederation of African Football (CAF): suspicion and discredit. Whatever the outcome, Morocco's victory seemed destined for contestation. If Brahim Díaz had scored, some would have cried arbitral error; if the Moroccan win had been decisive, it would have been labeled a "setup"; arising from a regulatory decision after the opponent's withdrawal, it becomes "proof of corruption." This critical lens isn't based solely on facts, but on a structural distrust of African sports institutions and their governance. It's the daily sport of Africans: nothing is accepted without suspicion, without accusations of corruption. Even presidential elections rarely escape it. The controversy actually exposes the narrative fractures generated by any decision, even the fairest. Over the past decade, Morocco has established itself as a central player in continental football. The kingdom has massively invested in infrastructure, training, and sports diplomacy. The results speak for themselves: Historic semi-final at the FIFA World Cup 2022. Multiplication of youth category titles. Regular hosting of African competitions. Growing appeal to binational players, like Brahim Díaz and many others. Morocco did it for itself, while naively believing it was good to share the benefits with the continent. Did the continent really want it? This rise fits into a broader soft power strategy, where sport becomes a lever for regional and international influence. But Morocco, the new power in African football, disturbs. Its success breeds jealousy and contestation. Trabelsi's point underscores an observed reality: success invites contestation. In an African football landscape historically marked by fluctuating balances between Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Senegal, the emergence of a structured, high-performing Morocco has sparked resistance. The Moroccan national team embodies a new dominance, built on sporting talent as much as organizational rigor, a transformation aligned with the country's overall trajectory. This fuels suspicious discourse, especially when refereeing or administrative decisions seem to favor it, rightly or wrongly. In the background, the controversy points to a deeper issue: the CAF's credibility. Recurrent accusations of favoritism, "backroom deals," or opaque governance don't target just Morocco, but the entire system. It's the narrative cultivated by one or two African countries to which nothing succeeds. As the African is too often consigned to the role of perennial victim, this discourse finds fertile ground to impose itself as reality. In this context, every decision becomes controversial, amplified by social media, press, and statements from governments, federations, or opportunists seeking visibility. Victimization, a recurrent sentiment in Africa, turns the slightest incident, or any decision, into a prism of suspicion. Trabelsi's outburst isn't just support for Morocco; he himself knows the kingdom doesn't need it. It highlights a battle of narratives around contemporary African football: between sporting merit and political suspicions, national pride and regional solidarities. Morocco, the rising power, finds itself at the heart of these tensions. As often in sports history, success is measured not only in trophies, but in the ability to impose a legitimate narrative. The real challenge for African football isn't designating a winner, but restoring collective trust in the rules of the game. Beyond the match, a battle of narratives is underway, where institutional credibility is the Gordian knot. The bad faith of some is evident. In a barely veiled attempt to poison relations between two peoples bound by centuries of brotherhood, a certain gaucho-Parisian press has launched a sordid discredit campaign, exploiting the weakness of the Moroccan national narrative, not for lack of content or relevance, but for its naivety in believing that good faith always prevails. Recent history proves otherwise. Those who long tormented Morocco for reclaiming part of its territory are the same ones howling on their sets or blackening paper, fueling a narrative aimed at harming the kingdom and sowing doubt about everything it undertakes. This won't stop; preparation is needed, especially after the 2026 World Cup. This is how to interpret Trabelsi's just and inspired words: it's time to build a Moroccan national narrative on national soil, without waiting for others, from abroad, to impose it through hatred and discredit. Today, Morocco outpaces its closest neighbors, which bothers them, enrages them, even drives them mad. The truth is they're profound hypogiaphobes, dreading their responsibilities to their own peoples. As for the 2025 AFCON, in two months, no one will talk about it anymore. It will boil down to a second well-deserved star on the Moroccan jersey, a sign that the CAF has come to its senses and will now apply its own rules.

Morocco: 113 kg thrown away per person, the imperative of an anti-food waste strategy... 3007

Aziz Daouda, 16 d.
- Politics - Society - Business -
2.4 min read.
The latest opinion, prepared by the Economic, Social, and Environmental Council (CESE) as part of a self-referral, is titled “Food Loss and Waste in Morocco: Scale of the Phenomenon and Challenges for Effective Intervention.” It analyzes the causes of this phenomenon and its repercussions at the national level, while proposing levers to sustainably transform production, distribution, and consumption patterns. The goal is to align these changes with national priorities in terms of sustainability, food sovereignty, and security. This phenomenon is global, and its impacts continue to grow. In Morocco, its scale and specific effects deserve particular attention, which is why this opinion is highly important and should not remain a dead letter. It represents a genuine theme for the next electoral campaign, provided that political parties are capable of generating ideas in this direction. On a global scale, according to the United Nations Environment Programme, the food value chain recorded a loss of about 13.2% between harvest and retail sale in 2022. Waste at the household, restaurant, and retail levels then accounted for nearly 19% of total food production. The trend is similar in Morocco. According to the 2024 Food Waste Index, Moroccan households threw away around 2.4 million tons of food in 2022, or 113 kg per person per year, compared to 91 kg in 2021. Losses and waste occur at all stages of the food value chain. In the initial phases, production, harvest, storage, and transport, certain sectors, particularly fruits, vegetables, and cereals, record losses of 20 to 40%. At later stages, waste stems from commercial practices and inadequate behaviors: excessive purchases, lack of knowledge about preservation methods, and low valorization of unsold goods. This leads to high economic and social costs. These losses impose significant burdens on producers and distributors, reduce food availability, and heighten the vulnerability of low-income populations. They also put pressure on natural resources: the CESE estimates that 6.1 billion m³ of water is mobilized annually to produce food that will never be consumed. Food waste, moreover, pollutes and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, underscoring the urgency of greater coordination. To date, institutional responses, where they exist, remain fragmented and ineffective. Despite some public and private initiatives, actions are scattered due to the lack of a specific legal framework, an integrated national vision, and effective governance. The CESE rightly considers reducing these losses and waste a major strategic challenge, to be placed at the heart of a national strategy for sustainable food. This would strengthen food sovereignty and security, preserve resources, rationalize imports and inputs, and promote a more equitable and resilient model in the face of crises. In this context, the Council recommends a specific action plan, integrable into the national strategy, with key recommendations: - Adopt a law against food loss and waste, prohibiting the destruction of unsold goods and facilitating donations to associations, social institutions, and food banks. - Clarify consumption dates: “to be consumed by” (health safety) and “best before” (quality). - Establish multisectoral governance involving public authorities, the private sector, and civil society. - Create a national observatory to collect data, produce indicators, and propose corrective measures. - Integrate waste reduction targets into public policies, particularly for catering in hospitals, schools, social centers, and prisons. - Develop storage and transport infrastructure, such as solar-powered refrigerated warehouses in agricultural regions. - Promote short supply chains to limit intermediaries and transport losses. - Encourage recycling of surpluses, such as solidarity fridges and food donations. The fight against food loss and waste goes beyond mere resource management: it is a lever for food security, agricultural efficiency, and environmental preservation. In a context of water scarcity, climate pressures, and growing needs, this battle is imperative for a sustainable and resilient Moroccan food system. Ultimately, it will effectively curb inflation and support the national economy. This strategy has every chance of succeeding, thanks to cultural and religious factors. Waste (isrâf or tabdhîr) is religiously prohibited as a sign of ingratitude toward divine blessings. The Quran states: “Eat and drink, but do not commit excess, for Allah does not love the wasteful,” Surah al-A‘râf. The use of goods is permitted, but excess is condemned. The scale of this phenomenon in Morocco makes it an urgent political issue, requiring effective and lasting action. It could be a true program for the next executive, if it becomes aware of it.

Christopher Ross or Diplomacy Against the Current 3197

Aziz Daouda, 17 d.
It sometimes happens that diplomats, once their mission is complete, opt for the discretion demanded by their former status. Others prefer to continue intervening in debates they themselves helped complicate. Christopher Ross clearly belongs to this second category. In a recent article, the former envoy for the Moroccan Sahara has once again taken a stance on this sensitive issue. With the benefit of hindsight, his analysis has gained neither nuance nor critical distance. Reading his text suggests quite the opposite: the same interpretive framework, the same assumptions, and above all, the same indulgence toward Algiers. This persistence raises a fundamental question: what is Ross seeking today by intervening again in a dossier where he was one of the most contested mediators? Appointed in 2009 by Ban Ki-moon, he succeeded a series of envoys who had faced the same difficulty: breaking out of a diplomatic impasse inherited from the Cold War. This conflict indeed traces its roots to the geopolitical upheavals of the 1970s. Morocco consolidated its historical sovereignty over the region in 1975, prompting Spain's withdrawal, while the Polisario, backed politically, financially, and militarily by Algeria and Libya, claimed the creation of an independent state. The dossier took on an international dimension with the creation, in 1991, of the MINURSO, tasked with supervising a referendum; an idea proposed by the late Hassan II in a speech delivered in Nairobi at an OAU summit. Very quickly, the obstacles created by the Polisario, particularly regarding voter identification, made this project nearly impossible, and the process stalled. It was then that Morocco proposed, in 2007, a major political initiative: a plan for broad autonomy for the southern provinces under Moroccan sovereignty. The project was presented to the Security Council as a realistic and pragmatic solution and garnered growing international support, described as "serious and credible" in several resolutions. It marked a true turning point in diplomatic realism. Since then, the diplomatic landscape around the Sahara has profoundly evolved. Numerous states now view Morocco's autonomy plan as the most credible basis for a lasting political solution. In 2020, the Trump administration officially announced recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over the Sahara, a major turning point in the dossier's diplomatic balance. In its wake, several Western powers reaffirmed their support for the autonomy plan, while Arab, European, and African countries opened consulates in Laâyoune or Dakhla, de facto recognizing Moroccan administration of the territory. Within the UN, the terminology used in Security Council resolutions has also evolved: the notion of a "realistic, pragmatic, and durable political solution" has become the guiding principle of the process. This shift toward a pragmatic approach reflects a simple reality: the referendum envisioned in the 1990s is no longer seen as a viable option. It is precisely this diplomatic turning point that Ross, still prisoner to an outdated vision, seems to refuse to integrate. In his recent statements, he continues to defend an interpretation of the conflict harking back to a bygone era, clinging to diplomatic frameworks long surpassed by geopolitical realities. This stance even calls into question the man's integrity. During his tenure, the Kingdom had already expressed serious reservations about his impartiality and officially demanded his replacement in 2012, as trust had been gravely undermined. A mediator, by definition, must maintain equitable distance between the parties. When that distance vanishes, mediation loses its credibility. In fact, Ross never truly dispelled suspicions of closeness to the Algerian position. Algeria's role in this conflict is central. One of the most controversial points in his discourse concerns precisely Algiers' place in the dossier. For fifty years, Algeria has officially claimed to be merely an "observing country" in this conflict. The diplomatic and strategic reality is entirely different. Algiers hosts, arms, and finances the Polisario, and shelters thousands of refugees in Tindouf, a significant portion of whom are not even from the territory in question. There is little doubt that the conflict is primarily a dispute pitting Algeria against Morocco, an analysis now widely shared by the main international actors. No lasting solution can emerge without Algiers' direct involvement in the negotiations. In this context, Ross's repeated positions appear anachronistic and undermine his credibility. By continuing, in effect, to align with Algeria and the Polisario, he gives the impression of prolonging a political fight rather than illuminating the debate. The responsibility of former international mediators is thus in question. When a former UN representative speaks out so trenchantly in public, he indirectly engages the image of the institution he served. Yet the credibility of international diplomacy rests precisely on the neutrality of its intermediaries. The diplomatic history of the Sahara is dotted with mediation attempts, successive plans, and failed initiatives. Before Ross, other envoys had tried to unblock the situation, notably James Baker, who proposed a transition plan in the early 2000s that was ultimately rejected. Each attempt has recalled a fundamental truth: without regional political will, no framework can succeed. This is precisely why current international diplomacy favors a realistic solution based on autonomy and regional cooperation, rather than maximalist constructs inherited from the Cold War. In essence, the question is not whether Ross has the right to express an opinion. Like any former diplomat, he can, of course, participate in the debate. But when he persists in defending a vision that ignores major geopolitical shifts, his discourse takes on the appearance of a rearguard battle. The world has changed, as have regional balances. The Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty is no longer merely a decolonization issue: it now lies at the heart of a strategic reconfiguration of the Atlantic and North Africa. Faced with these transformations, international diplomacy seems to have chosen pragmatism. Christopher Ross, by contrast, appears to have chosen nostalgia for a bygone paradigm. In international affairs, history shows that those who cling to past paradigms almost always end up swimming against the current of present realities.

Floods in Morocco: An Emergency Mastered, Lessons to Be Learned... 5129

Aziz Daouda, 25 d.
- Politics - Society - Business -
2.5 min read.
The recent floods in Morocco have once again tested the resilience of the state and society. Faced with the sudden rise of waters, the authorities' response was remarkably comprehensive: over 180,000 citizens were quickly evacuated from at-risk areas, transported to safe locations, housed, fed, and provided medical care under conditions that earned admiration beyond our borders. In Ksar El Kébir, as in many surrounding douars and hamlets in neighboring provinces, residents have now returned home. During their absence, their homes and belongings were very well secured. This emergency phase, marked by the mobilization of security forces, civil protection, and local authorities, demonstrated that when it comes to protecting human lives, the Moroccan state knows how to act with great efficiency, remarkable speed, and unwavering humanism. Few countries in the world can rival the Kingdom in managing disasters. Now, with the emotion subsided and populations back home, it's time for assessments and accountability. The emergency was perfectly managed; the time for pinpointing responsibilities has arrived. No one can defy nature. That's a given. Extreme weather phenomena, set to multiply due to climate change, now strike with unpredictable intensity. Floods, flash floods, road or bridge collapses are not unique to Morocco. They affect the most developed countries, with the most sophisticated infrastructure. However, a legitimate question arises: do all the observed destruction stem solely from the force of nature? When recently built roads give way, when engineering structures collapse after just a few years or even months of use, when drainage systems prove manifestly undersized, it becomes essential to question the quality of technical studies, the rigor of specifications, site inspections, and the compliance of materials used. Incompetence on the part of some, shoddy work by others, or corruption by certain individuals, these three hypotheses must be examined without taboo. Technical studies may well be insufficient or outdated. Climate data has evolved. If infrastructure is designed based on old models, it becomes inherently vulnerable. Yesterday's "exceptional" floods may be tomorrow's normal ones. Sometimes, it's poor workmanship in project execution that causes problems. A bridge, a dam, or a road doesn't fail solely under water pressure; it also fails when standards are not respected, inspections are lax, or technical oversight is deficient. We cannot dismiss outright possible malfeasance and corrupt practices. This is the gravest hypothesis. When public budgets are allocated to infrastructure meant to open up areas, streamline communications, or protect populations, every dirham diverted becomes a factor of vulnerability. In a country with limited resources, squandering public funds is not just a moral failing; it becomes a direct threat to citizens' safety. Transparent investigations are therefore essential. This is not about fueling widespread suspicion or casting blame on all public or private actors. The recent mobilization proves the opposite: the state apparatus is capable of excellence and fully committing to effectively resolve grave problems. But it is precisely to preserve this credibility that serious, independent, and transparent investigations must be conducted on the damaged infrastructure. There is no doubt the administration will identify structures that degraded abnormally quickly; examine tender processes; and verify compliance with prevailing standards. It remains crucial to ensure the publication of findings and, where applicable, to sanction faults if identified and responsibilities clearly assigned. Impunity would send a disastrous message. Conversely, accountability would strengthen citizens' trust in institutions, and God knows we need it in these times. For the future, better to prevent than to cure. Floods will always happen; material damage too. But what is unacceptable is infrastructure supposed to withstand predictable floods from certain wadis collapsing due to negligence or greed. Every dirham invested in prevention must yield maximum security. In a constrained budget context, the efficiency of public spending becomes a strategic imperative. Investing in durable infrastructure, thoroughly studied, adapted to new climate realities, rigorously controlled, and shielded from corruption, is less costly than endless reconstruction after each disaster. This is a full collective responsibility. The flood episode, like the previous earthquakes in Al Hoceïma and the Haouz, showcased the best of Morocco: solidarity, mobilization, operational efficiency. The challenge now is to draw structural lessons in rigor. Protecting citizens doesn't stop at emergency evacuation. It begins much earlier—in engineering offices, tender committees, control labs, and the traceability and oversight of public contracts. The true tribute to the 180,000 evacuated citizens is not just praising their resilience, but ensuring rebuilt infrastructure meets the highest standards. Nature is powerful, but negligence and corruption are catastrophes we can—and must—prevent. One thing is already certain: no more building in flood-prone areas.

Le Monde and Morocco: Old Grudges and Media Neocolonialism from a Parisian Prosecutor... 6329

Aziz Daouda, 1 mon.
A certain Alexandre Aublanc recently penned a long article in Le Monde, the Parisian newspaper, with the evocative title: "Mohammed VI's Unfulfilled Democratic Promises." Nothing less. The tone is set: that of the self-proclaimed prosecutor, handing out good and bad marks to a sovereign state, as if the Moroccan monarchy had personally sworn an oath to him or the valiant Moroccan people had requested an audit from him. Pretentious and ridiculous. This exercise is nothing new. For decades, a segment of the French press, particularly the Parisian variety and especially this one, has maintained an ambiguous relationship with the Kingdom: fascination, condescension, and resentment. The impression is one of mourning a lost eldorado where everyone would have loved to live, but under a republic, probably the French kind. Indeed, the country is beautiful, the people welcoming, but they want neither a republic nor France. It's good living in Marrakech or strolling through the streets and fine avenues of Rabat, perfectly under a monarchy. For over 360 years, Moroccans have been attached to the world's oldest reigning dynasty. They love their King and the royal family, and this affection is perfectly and singularly reciprocal. It's a deliberate choice, and no one from abroad has the right to question it. Already under Hassan II, the Kingdom was regularly portrayed as the "troublesome pupil" of Western democracy, which they were desperate to impose on it. Today, it's Mohammed VI's turn to be summoned to account not to his people, but to a certain nostalgic Parisian intelligentsia. The posture here is neocolonial, barely veiled. One must recall a historical fact: the French protectorate ended in 1956. Morocco is no longer under tutelage, neither political nor moral. The recent years, before President Macron's visit to Rabat, are perfect proof for those who might have forgotten. The idea that a French editorialist could position himself as the guarantor of a foreign sovereign's "democratic promises" reeks of nostalgia for influence. That's called interference, and interference is unacceptable, as Jean-Noël Barrot was pleased to remind the Americans. He was beside himself: a close ally of President Trump had dared to comment on the murder of Quentin Deranque by far-left militants. Rest assured, this doesn't concern Moroccans. French affairs are for the French. Emmanuel Macron, for his part, will launch "To each his own, and the sheep will be well guarded"; France had just been criticized by Giorgia Meloni over the same affair. Charles de Gaulle, in founding the Fifth Republic amid decolonization, had sealed the end of an era. Yet some media discourses, particularly those in Le Monde, seem not to have fully freed themselves from this inherited moral verticality. It was the General himself who created Le Monde, need we remind you. It's not criticism that's the problem. It's legitimate. What raises questions is the lens: a partial, decontextualized reading that deliberately ignores the extraordinary institutional, social, and economic developments Morocco has experienced since 1999. A host of facts and achievements, simply extraordinary in the region under Mohammed VI's reign, are conveniently omitted: The 2011 constitutional reform, adopted by referendum, strengthening the head of government's powers and enshrining fundamental freedoms and rights. The establishment of governance and regulatory bodies: National Human Rights Council, National Integrity Authority, etc. An ambitious infrastructure policy. Unique social development indicators in the region. A structured African strategy, cemented by Morocco's return to the African Union in 2017. Nothing is perfect, no one claims otherwise. Morocco is a country in transformation, facing complex social, economic, and geopolitical challenges. But reducing 25 years of reforms to a curt formula of "unfulfilled promises" is more pamphlet than analysis. Let's call it folly. It's always delicate to hand out democracy certificates from a country itself racked by major social tensions: crisis after crisis, record distrust of institutions, rise of extremes, controversies over police violence or freedom of expression, unpopularity of institutions and leaders. Democracy isn't a patent one awards to others. It's a process, imperfect everywhere—and certainly in France. But here, regarding this article, it's just another manifestation of a recurrent Moroccan obsession. Le Monde, since its creation, has maintained a particular relationship with the Moroccan monarchy. Hassan II was long a central figure, often described with a mix of fascination and gratuitous severity. Today, the target changes, but the tone remains. The repetition of these attacks sometimes gives the impression of a frozen interpretive grid: Morocco is eternally summoned to "catch up" to a standard defined elsewhere, precisely in Paris, without acknowledging its own historical and institutional path. The author and his ilk are truly unaware of their own decadent system, the drift of their "democracy," yet still seek to export it. The line between legitimate criticism and ridiculous caricature is razor-thin. What shocks about the article in question isn't the existence of a debate on Moroccan governance. That's healthy. What raises questions is the accumulation of approximations, omissions, and shortcuts that end up sketching a tasteless caricature. Morocco is neither a frozen dictatorship nor a Scandinavian democracy, nor will it ever be. Morocco has its own personality, and its people don't want to resemble anyone, not even France or the French. It's a country in mutation, with its traditions, contradictions, advances, and delays. But it belongs first to Moroccans to debate it, judge it, and decide it. By insisting on speaking "in the name of" the Kingdom's democratic promises, certain editorialists mostly give the impression of speaking for Moroccans. And in 2026, that sounds singularly dated. Francophone Moroccan readers, for their part, read, compare, analyze, and often smile at these lessons dispensed from afar. Not out of blindness, but because they know a country's reality can never be reduced to the columns, however prestigious, of a Parisian daily. As for Mr. Aublanc, he'll have to learn to sweep in front of his own door before looking elsewhere. French-style democracy is hardly an ideal on this side of the Mediterranean.

The Double Health-Demography Shock Threatening Morocco: It's Time to Act 6978

Aziz Daouda, 1 mon.
- Politics - Society - Business -
3.1 min read.
The physical and mental health status of Moroccans, combined with an accelerated demographic transition, outlines a worrying trajectory for the Kingdom's future economic, social, and strategic outlook. These issues should become the core of political programs and electoral debates, well ahead of short-term promises on employment, infrastructure, or any other generic or hollow topics. Today, nearly 59% of Moroccan adults have a body mass index in the overweight category, and 24% are already obese, almost one in four adults. In other words, the majority of the adult population lives with excess weight that could very well pave the way for an explosion of chronic diseases: diabetes, cardiovascular illnesses, cancers, all within a healthcare system already under strain. This reality mechanically translates into a continuous rise in medical expenses, a multiplication of sick leaves, and a decline in national productivity in sectors that rely on workers' physical strength and good health. To this bodily fragility is added a silent crisis in mental health: 48.9% of Moroccans aged 15 and over have experienced, are experiencing, or will experience symptoms of mental disorders, according to national surveys relayed by the Economic, Social, and Environmental Council. Depression, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, and suicidal behaviors now affect one in two Moroccans, in a context where specialized facilities are scarce, professionals insufficient, and stigma omnipresent. This massive psychological distress reduces learning, concentration, and innovation capacities, while undermining social cohesion by fueling addictions, violence, and withdrawal. Added to this are statistically high rates of drug and alcohol consumption. This is no longer a taboo, but a genuine topic for societal discussion and a ticking time bomb to which the country risks exposure if nothing is done to reverse the trends. Meanwhile, demography, long a strategic asset for the country, is turning into a source of vulnerability: the fertility rate has fallen to 1.97 children per woman in 2024, below the generational renewal threshold of 2.1. Over five decades, Morocco has gone from 7.2 children per woman in the 1960s to under 2 today, joining countries facing accelerated aging. In fact, nothing exceptional: this is precisely the case in all developed societies. Morocco is in full development. The proportion of youth under 15 is starting to decline, and by 2040, their number should drop from 9.76 million to 7.8 million, while older people will occupy a growing place in the age pyramid, bringing with it challenges for social coverage and pension funding. Thus, the country is heading toward a triple shock: an adult population where 59% are overweight and 24% obese, thus vulnerable to chronic diseases; a society where nearly one in two inhabitants has been or could be affected by a mental disorder; and a demography that no longer renews its generations, with a fertility rate of 1.97 signaling rapid aging. A Morocco that is less numerous, less physically robust, and more psychologically fragile will, tomorrow, face greater difficulties in producing, innovating, funding its social protection, and even ensuring its defense capabilities. If these figures do not become the foundation of party programs and thus future governments, the country will wake up in less than twenty years with a dramatic shortage of skilled labor, an army of poorly cared-for retirees, and public finances suffocated by the cumulative cost of obesity, associated diseases, and mental disorders. Political debates must stop relegating these issues to the rank of "technical files" and instead embrace them as the matrix of all economic, educational, social, and security policies. This requires an ambitious national prevention strategy: nutritional education from school onward, reduction in the supply of ultra-processed products, surtaxation of sugar-based products and sugar itself, promotion of physical activity in cities and countryside alike, early management of mental disorders in workplaces and schools, and massive development of nearby psychiatry and psychology services. Every dirham invested in body and mind health will save tens of dirhams tomorrow in hospitalizations, disabilities, lost production, and social tensions. But even a healthier Morocco will face an implacable arithmetic equation: with fertility below the replacement level, the reservoir of labor and vital productive forces will shrink progressively. The country will thus not have the luxury of letting its expensively trained talents leave or depriving itself of selected immigration, particularly student immigration. A policy to attract new immigrants, especially African, Arab, and other students, must be designed as a structuring axis of the population strategy: simplification of residency procedures, integration into the labor market, recognition of diplomas, social support. In parallel, Morocco must offer attractive return conditions to its own students trained abroad: qualified jobs, career prospects, research environments, decent remuneration, and institutional stability, to turn academic mobility into a national return on investment rather than permanent exodus. The significant remittances from Moroccans abroad are essential, but keeping these same people in Morocco would be even more productive. Billions of dirhams are invested each year in training thousands of young people who, once graduated, leave the country to contribute to other economies' wealth—even in the key and strained health sector. 700 doctors leave the country annually for several years now, while our needs are enormous. As long as obesity, mental health, demography, and brain drain remain treated as peripheral issues, Morocco risks moving backward while appearing modernized on the surface but weakened from within. It is still time to make health and human capital the compass of all public policy; tomorrow, it will be a race against the clock whose stakes we will no longer control, let alone its outcomes. This is what should form the basis of party programs and debates during the electoral campaign, which has in fact already begun in a subdued way.

Moroccan Sahara: The Algerian Lock Under American Pressure... 7484

Aziz Daouda, 1 mon.
For half a century, Algeria's military power has sought neither to definitively end the Sahara conflict nor to truly satisfy the Polisario's claims. The central goal is perpetuating a *controlled status quo*, sufficiently conflictual to remain useful but well-contained to avoid escalation. **In this logic, the Polisario is not an end in itself, but an instrument: a regional pressure proxy, activated or muted according to Algiers' strategic needs. Its leaders are mere officials on a mission, and the detainees in the camps no more than accomplices.**The aim is neither to build a viable state in the south nor to secure a total diplomatic victory, but to maintain low-level permanent destabilization in the region. A cynicism all too evident in a "frozen" yet profitable conflict for the Algerian regime. It sustains permanent strategic tension with Morocco, effectively blocking any real Maghreb integration. It justifies ongoing militarization and massive defense budgets in the name of a lasting threat. It nurtures the narrative of an external enemy, useful for diverting attention from internal economic, social, and political blockages. *In this framework, Morocco becomes a "structural enemy," not because it poses an objective existential threat, but because the Algerian system needs a designated adversary to cement internal cohesion and channel popular frustrations. The imaginary enemy as a method of governance.* The image of an expansionist and aggressive Morocco forms one of the pillars of Algeria's official discourse. It installs constant psychological pressure: externally, a neighbor portrayed as threatening; internally, the proclaimed need for strong power and an omnipresent security apparatus. This setup is not conjunctural; it is inherent to the regime's nature. In this political architecture, full and complete normalization with Rabat would be counterproductive, as it would deprive the military power of a central lever of legitimation. Some consider it suicidal for the regime. Thus, even when a "managed freeze" seems to settle in, as recently described by former Mauritanian Foreign Minister Ould Bellal, it is not a step toward peace, but a modality for managing the conflict. The status quo is adjusted, modulated, never abandoned. **This is where Washington becomes a true accelerator of the dossier. President Trump having made conflict resolution the nodal point of his term.** The Mauritanian reading is lucid on one point: the dossier only moves when Washington gets directly involved. Ould Bellal, a seasoned observer, emphasizes that "the direct American presence in recent meetings" marks a notable evolution from mere principled support for the UN process. The US has broken with its former posture. This dynamic confirms a strategic reality: the conflict's center of gravity is neither in Tindouf, nor in Laâyoune, nor even in Nouakchott, but in Algiers. This is what American officials have fully grasped. The repeated visits by Massad Boulos to Algiers, along with his firm yet coded statements, systematically recall the American line: support for a realistic political solution affirming Moroccan sovereignty over the territories; insistence on regional stability and Algiers' involvement as a stakeholder. *The implicit message is clear: without constructive engagement from the Algerian power, no lasting progress is possible, regardless of the UN framework or negotiation format.* What of Mauritania, between neutrality and vulnerability? It too is a stakeholder in the talks. Ould Bellal recalls that his country is "objectively concerned" by the conflict's outcomes, particularly due to the Lagouira area and the security and economic stakes linked to Nouadhibou. Lagouira indeed emerges as a strategic lock, both for Mauritania's security depth and for the configuration of Atlantic trade corridors. His proposal to organize an international conference aimed at clarifying and legalizing Mauritania's "positive neutrality" reflects acute awareness of the risks: a prolonged and instrumentalized conflict weakens the entire Sahelo-Maghreb continuum. Nouakchott knows the Algerian status quo is not neutral; it shapes regional balances and can turn into a factor of diffuse destabilization. It has been since 1976. If there is a lock here, it is indeed Algerian. At the end of the current sequence, the diagnosis is clear: the central problem is in Algiers, and a decisive part of the solution as well. As long as Algeria's military power views the Sahara as a lever for internal management and regional projection, no purely UN dynamic will suffice; the Polisario will remain a tool, not a sovereign decision-making actor. Under these conditions, only sustained, coherent, and if necessary coercive American pressure can alter Algiers' strategic calculus. Otherwise, the "managed freeze" evoked by Ould Bellal risks turning into diplomatic eternity, where the process's form changes, but the blocking logic persists. A kind of near-mathematical constancy. **The status quo is not an accidental impasse: it is an assumed policy. And as long as this policy remains profitable for Algiers, the conflict will stay suspended, not for lack of a solution, but for lack of will from the true decision-maker.** To break the lock, Washington is multiplying pressures on Algiers. *The latest is appointing a chargé d'affaires in Algiers, not an ambassador.* The chargé d'affaires status allows marking a form of "under-calibration" of representation, which can be interpreted as reflecting tensions over sensitive dossiers: Sahara, rapprochement with Moscow, counterterrorism; without escalating to open crisis. It is a signal from Washington showing that the relationship with Algiers is important, but not to the point of immediately dedicating a full ambassador while certain political adjustments are not made. Chevron will certainly do business with Sonatrach, but in politics, that is not enough. Algiers must move to earn American diplomatic trust: Trump's order. **In essence, the conflict is not a matter of maps or revolutionary slogans. It boils down to a simple equation: Algiers feeds on the status quo, but under President Trump's impetus, the "Sahara problem" will cease to be a historical drama to become what it should always have been: a settled dossier. The lock is about to break.**

Ramadan in Morocco: The Holy Month in the Mirror of Our Excesses... 7570

Aziz Daouda, 1 mon.
- Politics - Society - Business -
2.3 min read.
As Ramadan is here, Morocco shifts its rhythm and clock. Streets slow down by day and light up at night. Mosques fill up, hearts tighten around the essentials: faith, patience, solidarity, piety. *On paper, Ramadan is a month of restraint, piety, and self-focus. In economic reality, it paradoxically becomes a month of excess and waste. In fact, one must conclude with the paradox of the Moroccan table.* A few hours before iftar, markets burst with activity. Bags overflow. Baskets grow heavy. Bills do too. According to data from the High Commission for Planning, food already accounts for the largest share of Moroccan household budgets, especially for modest classes. **During Ramadan, food spending rises sharply, sometimes significantly, per consumption surveys, due to concentrated purchases over a short period and social pressure around the iftar table. Social pressure, but also pressure from the media, particularly television.Citizens are bombarded with messages promoting consumption as a marker of social success.** This translates to an 18% increase in spending. That's no small thing. It also means a sharp rise in demand for food products, not always necessities, putting upward pressure on prices. Yet, a non-negligible portion of this food sadly ends up in the trash. Levels can be alarming. Dumpsters overflow with prepared foods, cakes, pastries, bread, and other flour, butter and sugar based preparations. **According to a FAO study, this waste can reach nearly 85%.** In other words, a citizen spending 1,000 dirhams on food staples throws away the equivalent of 850 dirhams as waste. Astonishing. *Food waste in Morocco is structural, as highlighted by several FAO-backed studies. Ramadan amplifies it through multiplied dishes, domestic overproduction, impulse buys, and abundance seen as synonymous with hospitality and well-being.* The paradox is cruel: at the very moment spirituality calls for moderation, society settles into a display of abundance, in response to a silent social pressure. *Waste isn't just an economic issue. It's become cultural. Overall, a Moroccan citizen throws away about 132 kg of food per year, per a UNEP study. The FAO says 91 kg. Ramadan contributes significantly.* **The ftour or Iftar table has become a space of social representation. Failing to multiply dishes is sometimes seen as a lack of generosity, even stinginess. Chebakia, briouates, harira, multiple juices: the implicit norm demands variety. People put on airs. Ramadan's founding values take a serious hit. Sobriety is forgotten.** This pressure weighs even more on modest households, as recent years' food inflation has eroded purchasing power. When budgets are tight eleven months out of twelve, Ramadan becomes a month of disproportionate financial strain. The holy month turns into a tough budgetary equation. The media have crafted a "Ramadan spectacle." At nightfall, a near-generalized ritual begins: television. National channels concentrate their prime programming around the post-iftar slot. Light series, repetitive sitcoms, hidden cameras, family-oriented telefilms. All backed by unprecedented advertising bombardment. Ramadan has become peak advertising season. Food ads multiply, processed products invade screens, and commercial logic overshadows educational or cultural missions. The month of spirituality becomes an audience battle. Television doesn't create overconsumption alone, but it accompanies it, normalizes it, and sometimes celebrates it. Spirituality is thus put to the test. Ramadan is meant to teach hunger to better understand those who suffer from lack. Yet the contrast is striking: while some families struggle to provide essentials, others throw away surpluses. This contradiction raises questions about the responsibility of public authorities and media figures. Morocco isn't alone. In several Muslim countries, international organizations warn annually about the waste peak during the holy month. It's a recurring issue in regional public policies. But beyond the numbers, the question is moral: how to reconcile fasting and excess? How to preach restraint while practicing abundance? How to refocus the holy month? The solution isn't guilt-tripping or punitive. It's cultural. The duty today is to: - Rehabilitate simplicity in religious discourse. - Value modest tables as a sign of awareness, not poverty. - Encourage food redistribution initiatives. - Rebalance audiovisual programming with more educational, social, and spiritual content. Ramadan doesn't need to be spectacular to be intense. It doesn't need to be costly to be noble. It doesn't need to be abundant to be generous. Ultimately, the question isn't just economic. It's existential: Do we want to *live* Ramadan... or *consume* it? **Waste is unacceptable. Religion explicitly condemns it.**

Where Have Our Ministers Gone? When the Operational State Fills in for a Silent Government... 7676

Aziz Daouda, 1 mon.
- Politics - Society -
2.5 min read.
The recent floods provided a striking demonstration of the effectiveness of Morocco's security and territorial apparatus. On the high instructions of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, agents from the Ministry of the Interior, elements of the Royal Armed Forces, and various intervention forces mobilized impressive human and logistical resources in just a few hours. Nearly 180,000 people were evacuated, transported, and relocated from disaster-stricken areas with a speed that commanded admiration, including abroad. In Portugal, for example, where some observers praised Morocco's promptness, deputies heatedly questioned the government over its handling of the country's own floods, urging it to take a leaf out of the Moroccans' crisis management book. But behind this undeniable efficiency lies a disturbing question: where were the other ministers and their bloated departments? Especially those in charge of social affairs and solidarity. The Moroccan government is not limited to the sovereign ministries alone. It includes numerous ministries officially responsible for social affairs, solidarity, inclusion, family, territorial cohesion, and the fight against precariousness. Yet once again, these departments shone by their absence. No notable initiatives. No visible measures. Not even reassuring communication. Silence as the only response to the distress of those affected and the justified curiosity of citizens. This is not an isolated episode. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the bulk of the response had already rested on the security architecture and exceptional mechanisms driven from the highest levels of the State. During the El Haouz earthquake, the same scenario: remarkable mobilization of rescue forces and territorial administration, but worrying silence from several departments supposed to embody national solidarity. This repetition raises questions. It challenges not only the performance of the current government but also the very architecture of our successive governments. What is the point of an inflation of ministries if, in critical moments, they are invisible? What good is multiplying state secretariats, attached agencies, and thematic departments if their real impact is undetectable when the country faces a trial? The debate is not ideological; it is budgetary and ethical. Every ministry, every cabinet, every central directorate represents salaries, vehicles, premises, operating expenses. When these structures provide no measurable added value, they become budget-devouring. They absorb public resources without tangible return for the citizen. Some provocatively invoke Argentine President Javier Milei's "chainsaw." Obviously, this is not about caricaturally copying foreign models, and certainly not that one. But the question of rationalizing the governmental apparatus deserves to be raised seriously. An effective government is not a hypertrophic, colossal one; it is a coherent, streamlined, responsible, and efficient formation. Beyond the symbolism, there is a macroeconomic stake. A civil servant or high official paid without measurable output mechanically contributes to unproductive public spending. When public spending rises without corresponding wealth creation, it fuels imbalances, tax pressure, and ultimately inflation. Distributing income financed by taxes or debt to structures that produce neither tangible services nor social efficiency weakens the purchasing power of the very citizens one claims to protect. An unacceptable, unfair contradiction. God knows the subject is sensitive. The Moroccan citizen is not happy with price hikes and the erosion of his purchasing power. With the September elections approaching, political parties can no longer settle for sectoral promises and catalogs of social programs. They must commit to reforming the governmental architecture itself: reducing the number of departments, clarifying competencies, mandating results, and public evaluation of performance. The next head of government and all those aspiring to be—should clearly announce their visions: how many ministries? With what precise missions? According to what performance indicators? And above all: with what political responsibility in case of inaction during crises? It is time to break with the logic of satisfying partisan balances at the expense of public efficiency. Multiplying posts to appease coalitions can no longer be financed by the taxpayer with impunity and without real counterpart. Every public dirham must be justified. The exemplary mobilization of intervention forces proves that the Moroccan State knows how to act with rigor and speed when the chain of command is clear and responsibility is assumed. The government, for its part, must now prove that it can exist beyond its organigram. Citizens, finally, bear a share of responsibility. Voting should not just be an act of adherence to slogans, but a rational choice in favor of sober, effective, and responsible governance. The stakes go beyond the conjuncture: they concern the sustainability of our public finances and the credibility of our institutional model. The question thus remains, simple and relentless: in moments when the nation faces great difficulty, as is the case today, who really acts, who coasts along, contenting themselves with existing on paper and collecting salaries and perks without reason?

April 6, 2026: The day Morocco gets a parachute against economic storms... 8242

Aziz Daouda, 1 mon.
- Politics - Business -
3 min read.
April 6, 2026, will mark a decisive turning point for the Moroccan economy: it's a new level for the country's "financial engine."It will change the way businesses manage risks and, indirectly, the daily lives of citizens. This is undoubtedly the country's most important financial reform in a long time. With officials showing little interest in explaining such news, let's do an "Economics for Dummies" version. I'm one of them. A Futures Market is a place where you sign contracts today to buy or sell later, at a price fixed in advance. Instead of buying a stock or index right away, like on the "spot" market, you commit to a future price. This protects against sudden rises or falls. It's like locking in your gas fill-up price right now for the next six months, avoiding nasty surprises. Morocco is thus adding another tool to the Casablanca Stock Exchange to stabilize the system: the first products will be futures contracts on stock indices, overseen by the AMMC, the Central Bank, and the financial ecosystem. The goal is to make the capital markets deeper, more liquid, and more resilient to external shocks. April 6 is not just a technical date. It's a structuring step for the Casablanca financial hub to modernize the capital markets and bring them closer to international standards. Risk management will improve for economic players in rates, indices, currencies, and commodities. The Stock Exchange will also attract more capital, especially foreign. The Futures Market is not a speculative gadget; it's a protection tool, a kind of umbrella that shields from storms, allowing businesses to anticipate and secure their costs or revenues. It improves visibility and investment decisions, especially in an economy like Morocco's, highly exposed to international prices and exchange rates. **Impact on the agricultural and agri-food sector:** Morocco exports products sensitive to world prices and currency fluctuations. So, a citrus exporter fearing a dollar drop can use the Futures Market to hedge risk, by tying into an index or contract that tracks that risk. Even if the dollar falls or international prices reverse, it protects part of their margin and secures revenues. This means fewer cooperative bankruptcies, more stable rural jobs, and less "sawtooth" incomes in the countryside. The textile and automotive sectors are highly sensitive to raw material prices (cotton, steel, energy) and international markets. A factory importing cotton could hedge cost increase risks via products linked to an index. An automotive plant, exposed to rising steel prices or demand shifts, can stabilize part of its margins through hedging strategies. If they better control costs, they can invest more, avoid layoffs in tough times, and keep competitive prices for consumers: clothing, vehicles, etc. In energy and mining, global price volatility is a major issue. OCP, heavily exposed to international phosphate prices, can use the Futures Market to smooth the impact of fluctuations on its results. Energy operators can better manage risks tied to electricity, fuel prices, or interest rates financing major projects: solar farms, wind farms. Better visibility fosters long-term heavy investments, thus more projects, more industrial jobs, and ultimately more stable energy costs for households. Transport, services, and tourism, pillars of the Moroccan economy, are highly dependent on international cycles, currencies, and geopolitical shocks. A hotel chain or airline can hedge part of its risks (financing costs, market indices) to stabilize accounts, boosting capacity to maintain jobs, invest in quality, and offer competitive deals for domestic and foreign tourists. The Futures Market has a huge impact on very small, small, and medium-sized enterprises (VSMEs, SMEs, MEs), which form the productive heart of the country—99.7% of Moroccan businesses generate about 38% of value added and provide nearly 74% of declared jobs. Even if, at launch, the Futures Market will mainly be reserved for institutional players and the most structured companies, it will eventually benefit VSMEs/SMEs/MEs indirectly. Better-protected, more stable large companies offer more orders to subcontractors. Banks and intermediaries can create "packaged" solutions integrating risk coverage, without the small business needing to be an expert in derivatives. If the VSME/SME/ME fabric becomes more resilient, employment gains stability. At first, individuals won't have direct access to the Futures Market. Authorities want a gradual rollout given the complexity and risks. However, citizens are at the center of the final ripple effects: more stable jobs. Prices will be more predictable with better control of raw materials, energy, and financing costs. Savings and pensions will also be better protected. Pension funds, life insurance, and mutual funds can use these instruments to hedge portfolios. For projects and infrastructure: deeper capital markets finance major works more easily, with huge ripple effects. The Moroccan citizen won't necessarily "trade futures" from their smartphone tomorrow morning, but they'll benefit from a more stable economic environment, sturdier businesses, and a financial market better armed against storms. The Futures Market is a powerful tool, but it can become risky if misunderstood or used for pure speculation. That's why authorities chose a gradual launch, starting with simple products. Access will be limited to professional players and companies able to understand risks, before broader democratization. Emphasis will be on financial education, transparency, and strengthened regulation. This is therefore not just "one more product" at the Casablanca Stock Exchange, but a change in the playing field. It equips the Moroccan economy with modern tools to better manage shocks, support investment, and ultimately protect jobs and citizens' purchasing power.

Under Attaf's Eyes, Ghali Begs for His "Peace Bill" in Madrid... 8287

Aziz Daouda, 1 mon.
It took guts. Ibrahim Ghali had them. From the Tindouf camps, this lawless, timeless no-man's-land, the Polisario leader saw fit to announce his willingness to "share the peace bill" with Morocco. Context is key to grasping the ploy. The statement came the day before his trip to Madrid, where the U.S. embassy would host a meeting this Sunday, with Morocco presenting its self-determination plan for the southern provinces. Worth noting: Mauritania would attend... and Algeria too. This Algeria, which had told itself it wasn't involved in the talks, is represented by the very same foreign minister who once wouldn't even entertain the idea... The declaration is so grotesque it deserves a direct spot in the museum of contemporary diplomatic absurdities. Let's get serious: How do you share a bill when you've never paid a dime? How do you talk peace when you've built your entire political existence on systematically rejecting every solution? How do you invoke compromise when you're surviving on financial, political, and security life support from your host country, incapable of the slightest autonomous move? Ibrahim Ghali isn't a peace actor. He is the cost, accumulated over nearly half a century. The most pathetic part of this outburst isn't its content, but what it reveals: a movement running on fumes, reduced to recycling technocratic jargon for lack of any credible ideology left. After the fantasized "armed struggle," after hollow threats of total war, after hundreds of martial communiqués drafted to sustain the illusion for a captive audience, here comes the era of political begging dressed up as responsibility. The Polisario liberates nothing, builds nothing, proposes nothing. It blocks, delays, confiscates. And now, it wants to bill. But bill for what? Exactly what "peace bill" is Ghali talking about? The decades of sequestering Sahrawi populations, deprived of basic rights? The diverted international humanitarian aid, resold and conveniently reinvested far from Tindouf? The human capital sacrificed on the altar of an obsolete separatism? Or the artificial survival of a politico-military apparatus that only exists because others prop it up? Those others now gasping for air themselves. It takes supreme cynicism to talk peace after living, or at least believing in, even a fictional war for fifty years. Ghali's sudden conversion to the language of moderation isn't some moral epiphany, obviously. It's dictated by panic. Panic at the dossier's irreversible evolution. Panic at the international realignment. Panic at the increasingly clear U.S. signals. Panic, above all, at the growing recognition of an obvious truth that even the Polisario's traditional backers no longer dare contest openly: the separatist project is dead, drained of all credibility. Its death certificate will be signed in Madrid this weekend, in the presence of its godfather. Yesterday, Ghali promised escalation. Today, he begs for talks. This isn't strategy—it's a survival reflex. When he claims the Polisario "won't substitute itself for the Sahrawis," the hypocrisy hits new heights. Who has spoken in their name without ever consulting them? Who confiscated their future under the pretext of representing them? Who turned entire generations into diplomatic bargaining chips? Certainly not Morocco, which invests, develops, and integrates. But a frozen apparatus, churning out nothing but outdated slogans dictated by its sponsor's services. **As for the ritual invocation of "international legality," it's now pure Pavlovian reflex. A magic formula mechanically repeated by a structure with no legal, political, or historical grounding anymore and likely no credibility left among the sequestered. The world has changed, international law evolves, and the Polisario keeps waving resolutions like relics, hoping for a miracle.** Reality is brutal: Morocco has no "peace bill" to share with the Polisario. It has already paid, and keeps paying, in investments, stability, political vision, and diplomatic credibility. The autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty isn't a concession: it's the solution. Everything else is ideological folklore. The Polisario, for its part, has nothing to offer. No territory. No project. No renewed legitimacy. Just political, moral, and human debts to the sequestered it's clumsily trying to offload onto others. Let Ibrahim Ghali keep his bills. Let him send them to those who host him, fund him, and still dictate his outbursts. The process marches on, reality asserts itself, and history's train doesn't stop for clandestine passengers waving expired tickets. Welcome to Madrid, Mr. Attaf but beware, neither Morocco nor the U.S. have time to waste. They have far better things to do than listen to you and put up with the idiocy. In Madrid, Morocco is represented by Nasser Bourita, Algeria by Ahmed Attaf, Mauritania by Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug. Mohamed Yeslem Beissat will be there for the Polisario and listen like a good student to the dictation. In diplomatic precaution, lest anyone forget the UN's involvement, the UN Secretary-General's personal envoy, Staffan de Mistura, is invited. But no one's fooled: it's the U.S. steering the ship, with one agenda item: the autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty, and nothing else. Morocco has fleshed it out, expanding from the initial 5-page project to about forty pages today, no more.

Between Stadiums That Withstand and Cities That Drown… What Image Do We Want for Sporting Morocco? 6570

Dr Charrat mohammed rochd, 2 mon.
- Politics - Society - Sports -
1.5 min read.
The image Morocco has projected in organizing major continental football events in recent years has been genuinely impressive. Modern stadiums, advanced sports infrastructure, and a level of organization that earned widespread praise—especially during matches played under heavy rain without any impact on pitch quality or the flow of the games. It felt as though the Kingdom was offering Africa a masterclass in readiness, sending a clear message: Morocco has become a serious sporting and organizational power. But on the other side of the picture, the floods in the city of Ksar El Kebir forced us to confront uncomfortable questions. How is it that sports facilities can withstand heavy rainfall with such professionalism, while entire neighborhoods end up underwater? How do we make sense of this stark contrast between stadiums equipped with cutting-edge drainage systems and cities whose infrastructure remains fragile in the face of intense downpours? Today, sport is no longer just about results on the pitch. It has become a showcase for nations—a mirror of their ability to plan and manage. Investing in stadiums is undoubtedly important, especially with major ambitions such as hosting the Africa Cup of Nations and preparing for even larger global events. But a country’s image is not built solely within the walls of sports complexes. The fan applauding flawless organization inside the stadium may be the very same citizen struggling outside with flooded streets and overwhelmed sewage systems. The paradox is painful: advanced rainwater drainage technologies beneath football pitches, while real drainage failures persist in some urban areas. This contradiction raises questions about priorities—not to diminish the value of sporting achievements, but to broaden the meaning of success. Effective sports organization should be an extension of a strong urban system, not a modern island surrounded by fragile surroundings. What happened in Ksar El Kebir should not be dismissed as a passing incident caused merely by exceptional rainfall. It should be read as a warning bell. If we are capable of building world-class stadiums in record time, we are certainly capable of modernizing sewage and drainage networks in cities vulnerable to flooding. The technical expertise exists, the know-how is there; the real challenge lies in applying the same urgency and rigor to projects that affect citizens’ daily lives. Morocco’s sporting ambitions are significant, its aspirations legitimate, and its international image important. But the most powerful image will emerge when our success in organizing matches under heavy rain becomes a natural reflection of cities that can also withstand storms without losses or suffering. Only then will we be looking at a truly coherent development model: one that shines not only under stadium lights and television cameras, but also protects people on the ground in real life.

Africa of Narratives: The Media Silence That Handicaps Rabat... 6817

Aziz Daouda, 2 mon.
The press is never neutral and never will be.It doesn't just report facts: it ranks them, amplifies them, or stifles them. In Africa, where the battle for influence plays out as much in newsrooms as in chancelleries, media power is a central indicator of real leadership. In this game, the comparison between Morocco and Senegal, judged by the facts recorded during the CAN final, is brutal. It's a textbook case. It highlights a disturbing truth: Morocco acts massively across the continent but speaks little or goes unheard, while Senegal, with more limited means, imposes its voice. Senegal boasts an age-old media capital, forged by history, a culture of debate, and a press that has never fully abandoned its critical role. Dakar remains a nerve center for francophone African discourse. Its media transform a national event into a continental issue, a local controversy into a pan-African debate. They master the art of storytelling: giving meaning, creating emotion, shaping opinion. A quick look at *Le Soleil*, the historic state newspaper and circulation leader, or *Walfadjri*, a powerful, conservative, and critical group, is enough to gauge its reach. **Morocco presents a striking paradox. The country invests, finances, builds, trains, and advances by giant strides. It promotes win-win partnerships, positions itself as a major player in African development, and claims a deep continental strategic footprint. Yet this ambition runs up against a glaring weakness: the absence of a Moroccan press that is audible and influential on the African scale. Moroccan media abound, sometimes technically proficient, but remain confined to internal dialogue. Africa often appears there as diplomatic scenery, rarely as a living space for debate.** This shortfall carries a heavy political cost. Without powerful relays, the Moroccan narrative, when it exists—struggles to take hold. Its successes go unnoticed, its positions are poorly understood, its silences interpreted as admissions of weakness or lack of humility. While others seize the space, Morocco lets the battle for perceptions slip away. In Africa, those who don't tell their own story accept others telling it for them, with their biases and lies when bad faith enters the mix. The Sahara affair demonstrated this for decades, with persistent residues: the neighbor's narrative took root in many minds, peddling falsehoods, historical distortions, even geographical falsehoods. This absence of voice is also reflected in the silence of the elites. Moroccan ministers are discreet, if not absent, from African airwaves. Ambassadors shy away from major continental debates. Moroccan experts are invisible in pan-African media: Morocco is present physically and materially, but absent narratively. In contrast, Senegalese figures, political, diplomatic, or intellectual, flood the regional media space. They explain, justify, challenge, fully aware that influence is built through public discourse. Football, too often reduced to mere spectacle by shortsighted decision-makers, brutally exposes these imbalances. A heavy defeat can remain a minor incident or become a political and symbolic event. When a sports fact circulates in Africa, it's not the score that strikes but how it's told, commented on, debated. Things may go well on the pitch; what matters is the media narrative. The sanctions from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) confirm this reality. Their impact goes beyond sport: they become subjects of debate, tools of pressure, levers of influence. Where some media amplify, contextualize, and politicize the event, others suffer it, whine without convincing. Morocco too often adopts this defensive posture, lacking a press capable of imposing its reading of the facts and a solid narrative. Today, the impression prevails that the continent has ganged up against the Kingdom, seen as a corrupter of the system and absolute master of the CAF. In reality, we are far, very far from that. Yet try convincing a young African otherwise: some even view the sanctions against Senegal as unfair. *The problem is not quantitative but strategic. Morocco doesn't lack media; it lacks an African vision. Few correspondents on the continent, weak multilingual presence, absence of pan-African platforms: so many handicaps in a hyper-connected Africa. Add to that an editorial caution that stifles debate, while influence arises from clashing ideas.* The diagnosis is irrefutable. Morocco cannot sustainably claim a central role in Africa without investing the media field. It needs offensive, credible media capable of speaking to* Africa and with*Africa;* visible, assertive voices present in controversies and substantive debates. Modern power is no longer measured solely in kilometers of highways, banks, or signed agreements, but in the ability to impose a narrative. **Morocco must never forget the all-out war waged against it, including in the media. It must integrate this as a core component of its African policy.** As long as it leaves this terrain to others, those who, jealous and insecure, bet on disinformation, slander, and lies, its ambitions will remain fragile at best. **Good faith never wins alone: it advances alongside bad faith.** It's the swiftest, most composed, most persuasive, the one that hits back, that triumphs in the end.

Enough is Enough, Mr. Motsepe... 5957

Aziz Daouda, 2 mon.
Letter to Mr. Patrice Motsepe, President of the Confederation of African Football, in response to his statement following the decision of your disciplinary commission. No, Mr. President, you cannot shift onto a host country, in this case, Morocco, the burden of the CAF's chronic weaknesses and the hesitant governance of its disciplinary bodies. By endorsing sanctions perceived as harsh toward Morocco, while sparing those who spoiled a final meant to be the crowning glory of the 2025 AFCON, your discourse on "integrity" and "the image of African football" comes across less as a moral awakening than as a convenient reversal of responsibilities. It is not Morocco that has undermined the CAF's credibility: it is the decisions, the unspoken issues, the legal contradictions, and the off-kilter communication surrounding this dossier. Morocco is not an ordinary defendant before the CAF; it is one of its main pillars. While others shy away from organizational, logistical, and security demands, it is the Kingdom that opens its stadiums, airports, hotels, and cities to competitions that many refuse to risk hosting. The 2025 AFCON mobilized infrastructure upgraded at forced march, nine stadiums meeting international standards, smooth logistics, and security that was widely praised, delivering a tournament that no one disputes on organizational grounds. To now tell this same country that it must also absorb the symbolic and sporting bill for the CAF's regulatory inconsistencies is to punish the very actor who contributed most to the event's success. When Morocco is sanctioned, it is not just federation officials who are targeted; it is millions of Moroccans who feel aggrieved. They filled the stadiums, showcased the country's hospitality, turned this AFCON into a showcase for the continent—only to see their national team, already honored with a fair play award, caught up in a verdict deemed "incomprehensible" even in the international press. How do you explain to these citizens that an exemplary host country, organizationally speaking, is treated with such severity, while the legal qualification of the Senegalese team's temporary withdrawal or other behaviors that disrupted the final seems to have been handled with calculated leniency? The question at hand is one of coherence and proportionality. Many observers, including jurists and former CAF officials, highlight the inconsistencies in a decision where the displayed severity toward Morocco is not matched by equally firm and transparent treatment of all parties involved. The suspensions of Moroccan players and the fines imposed on the FRMF pile onto the rejection of the claim based on articles 82 and 84, while the handling of the opponent's behavior and the incidents that led to the match interruption, injuries to valiant stadium staff, and vandalized equipment leaves a sense of unfinished business. This imbalance fuels the perception that the CAF sought a "political balance" rather than clear sporting justice. Your statements, Mr. President, do announce a reform of the Disciplinary Code, more "appropriate and dissuasive" sanctions, and a commitment to protecting the integrity of African football. Your words thus confirm that what occurred during the final warrants heavy reprimand. Defending the integrity of African football should logically have started there, given the facts that the whole world deemed scandalous—except for your disciplinary commission, which openly encourages indiscipline. To millions of Moroccans, who have invested billions of dirhams in their infrastructure and staked their international image just a few years from a co-hosted 2030 World Cup, this sudden clarity comes too late and feels like a catch-up operation. Trust is not rebuilt with abstract promises, but with decisions that convey equal treatment, rigorous application of the rules, and respect for the sacrifices made by host countries. In reality, what is at stake goes far beyond a mere disciplinary dispute: it is the moral contract between the CAF and its most committed members that is in question. When a country that takes risks to host your competitions feels turned into a scapegoat to mask your own failings, the relationship turns toxic. And if Morocco were to say to you today: enough is enough. It cannot, it must not, pay for the legal ambiguities, political hesitations, and faltering governance of a confederation that hides behind the "independence" of its bodies while refusing to fully own the consequences of its choices. The CAF, under your leadership, has just taken another step toward perfidy against its star pupils, as if those working for the development of African football disturb someone somewhere... Are we not right in the midst of the red poppy syndrome, the one that stands out above the rest in the field? Yes, we are, Mr. President. Those who resent others' success because they cannot replicate it at home have triumphed. They threatened. They were heard. Morocco disturbs with its development, its unparalleled achievements, its diplomatic victories, its success in organizing and the quality it offered your confederation. It pays the price. The price of the naivety it has shown.

From Passion to Meaning: The CAN as a Test of Truth for Africanity... 5552

Aziz Daouda, 2 mon.
The Royal Cabinet's communiqué, published on January 22, 2026, following the CAN 2025 brilliantly hosted by Morocco, combines a call for calm after the Senegalese withdrawal episode with a celebration of an organizational success hailed across Africa and beyond. Through a measured and forward-looking tone, it transforms a sports tension into a demonstration of responsible continental leadership, faithful to a long-term vision for a united and prosperous Africa. Through the tone and content of the royal message, we understand that once the passion subsides, inter-African fraternity will naturally prevail: Morocco's success is also Africa's success. The CAN 2025 confirmed Morocco's ability to turn a continental tournament into a lever for development and influence. The smooth organization, modernized infrastructure, massive influx of supporters, and revitalization of key sectors such as tourism, transport, commerce, and services generated billions of dirhams in returns and around 100,000 direct and indirect jobs, with over 3,000 companies mobilized and some 500,000 supporters transported by Royal Air Maroc. The royal message places this success within a broader trajectory: that of a "great African country" which, in twenty-four months, has gained the equivalent of a decade of development in infrastructure and expertise, in service of its people and its continent. Without overlooking the "unfortunate" nature of the incidents in the Morocco-Senegal final, the communiqué opts for elevation over controversy. By recalling that once the passion has calmed, "inter-African fraternity will naturally prevail," it offers a mature reading of collective emotions and emphasizes that the Moroccan people "know how to put things in perspective" and reject resentment. The sports defeat thus turns into a symbolic and diplomatic victory: "hostile designs" and denigration are neutralized by strategic consistency, self-confidence, and the Kingdom's African anchoring. The Moroccan public in the stadium witnessed a grotesque tragedy, deliberately and premeditatedly staged, but was not fooled. They quickly understood, kept their calm and composure despite being deeply wounded. A noted and remarkable behavior that honors them and honors the Kingdom. In practice, as in history, Morocco-Senegal relations are imbued with a consolidated fraternity, strengthened on every occasion. The royal message thus takes on particular significance toward this brother country, with which relations are described as "exceptional and strategic," founded on shared memory, assumed African solidarity, deep religious fraternity, and strong economic convergences. The holding, on January 26 and 27 in Rabat, of the 15th Morocco-Senegal Joint High Commission, accompanied by an economic forum, gives concrete content to this resilient fraternity by relaunching investments, joint projects, and South-South cooperation in service of the two peoples and, by extension, all those in the region. Beyond the finalists, the communiqué addresses all African peoples by recalling that "nothing can alter the proximity cultivated over centuries" nor the "fruitful cooperation" forged with countries on the continent. It situates the CAN 2025 within a long-term strategy: capitalizing on intangible capital made of trust, visibility, and credibility, and using it as a springboard toward upcoming events, notably the 2030 World Cup, in an Africa that assumes its place on the world stage, seeks to establish it through continuity, and consolidate it. In this spirit, it is essential to reject deviations, racism, hate speech, media or ideological manipulations, from tarnishing our Africanity or denying its profound dignity. Being African means first sharing a geography, a history, cultures, struggles, and a common destiny, beyond borders, sports results, or political contingencies. We are not condemned to reproduce stupidity and hostility; on the contrary, we have the collective responsibility to make public space a place of encounter, listening, and fraternization, where intelligence, unconditional respect for human dignity, and curiosity about the other prevail over insult and stigmatization. In the straight line of the royal message, this CAN must remain a reminder: our African future will not be built in hatred or by imitating the worst reflexes, but in the ability to transform tensions into learning, competitions into bridges, and disagreements into opportunities for dialogue. We are Africans, together, through memory and through the future, and it is this shared consciousness that can make our stadiums, our cities, and our debates spaces of elevation rather than scenes of division. Attempts at destabilization orchestrated by some may, at best, cloud the horizon for the duration of a competition, but they cannot sustainably embed themselves in the consciousness of peoples. As facts emerge, they turn against their authors, now exposed to the world's gaze, unable to indefinitely mask their failures, the poverty of their mindset, and the pettiness of their designs. Where manipulation exhausts itself, truth always ends up prevailing, and with it the dignity of nations that bet on construction, fraternity, and the future rather than on intrigue and division.

AFCON 2025: When Morocco Believes in Itself and in Africa.. 6541

Aziz Daouda, 2 mon.
- Politics - Society - Sports -
3.2 min read.
In 1961, John F.Kennedy issued an immortal challenge to Americans: "Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country." This call to individual responsibility helped forge a collective mindset rooted in civic engagement and self-transcendence. Contemporary America still bears the imprint of this philosophy in many ways. Decades later, Barack Obama rallied crowds with "Yes we can," a cry of unity and collective determination, while Donald Trump popularized "Make America Great Again," a slogan of national rebirth. These formulas are more than mere words: they crystallize moments when a people rediscover themselves, mobilize, and project toward the future. A kind of regeneration for a power afraid of falling, a way to revitalize a nation prone to forgetting itself or resting on its laurels? Morocco has also known this grammar of national mobilization. The late Hassan II forcefully reminded in one of his speeches: "We will only achieve this goal by translating nationalism into citizenship and by moving national consciousness from mere love for the homeland to effective engagement in building a Morocco that is a source of pride for all Moroccans." A founding vision: loving Morocco is not enough; it must be built. In the same spirit, His Majesty King Mohammed VI stated, on the occasion of the 2019 Throne Day, that "Morocco belongs to all Moroccans because it is our common home," calling on each to contribute to its construction, its development, as well as to the preservation of its unity, security, and stability. More recently, on the 2024 Throne Day, the Sovereign again emphasized the need to "pool the efforts of all Moroccans" and appealed to their patriotism as well as to their sense of individual and collective responsibility. A message that resonates, in Moroccan style, like a national "Yes we can," aimed at overcoming socio-economic challenges and consolidating achievements. **AFCON 2025: A Revealer of National Confidence.** It is in this context that Morocco experienced a major turning point with the organization of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. Well before kickoff, the AFCON was already acting as a powerful revealer: a revealer of the level of development achieved by the Kingdom, but also of the renewed confidence of Moroccans in their collective capacities. The international competition hosted by Morocco demonstrated unparalleled capacity: modern stadiums meeting the most demanding standards, extensive highway networks, efficient rail hubs, increasingly clean and organized cities, civility widely praised by visitors. Casablanca, Rabat, Tangier, Marrakech, or Agadir as examples only, embody this Morocco that advances, invests, and projects toward a bright future. These progresses are not the fruit of chance. They result from a strategic vision driven by His Majesty King Mohammed VI and translated into structuring investments: more than 2,000 km of highways built since the early 2000s, the Tanger Med port complex becoming a global reference in transshipment, or an ambitious energy policy aiming for over 52% renewable energies in the national mix by 2030. Thus, AFCON 2025 crowns a long-term process, not just a one-off flash. **Resilience, Solidarity, and International Credibility.** Even before the sporting event, the Al Haouz earthquake in September 2023 had already highlighted the resilience of the Moroccan nation. Faced with a major human tragedy, spontaneous solidarity—mass collections, citizen volunteering, mobilization of institutions, and the state's rapid intervention under royal impetus—demonstrated the strength of the national bond. The ongoing reconstruction has reinforced the conviction that Morocco knows how to face adversity. At the same time, macroeconomic indicators attest to an overall positive trajectory: gradual improvement in GDP per capita over the medium term, rise of sectors like automotive, aeronautics, and green energies, affirmation of the Kingdom as a central diplomatic actor in Africa. This international credibility, sometimes a source of regional tensions or criticisms, above all confirms that Morocco has crossed a strategic threshold. **A Success That Calls for More Engagement.** But this success is not an end in itself. It calls for more individual and collective efforts, more mutual trust between citizens, businesses, and institutions. More than ever, the question posed by Kennedy remains relevant: "What am I doing for my country?" Every Moroccan, at their level, is called upon. This dynamic rests on a common denominator: solidarity, extended by work, innovation, and responsibility. It translates into local initiatives, the rise of tech hubs in Casablanca, Rabat, or Tangier, investment in human capital, and adherence to the New Development Model, which aims for a more inclusive, more productive Morocco, better positioned in the global economy. **An Assumed African Ambition.** AFCON 2025 must also be understood as a moment of African fraternity. Morocco has affirmed its continental vocation there: to pull upward, share experience, strengthen South-South partnerships and economic interdependencies. Security, climate, social, and economic challenges are common; responses must be too. Morocco's destiny is inseparable from that of Africa, and Africa's depends on Morocco as well. A prosperous Morocco is an excellent locomotive for the rest of the continent, especially in the region. Sterile criticisms and entrenched or passing jealousies never withstand the seriousness of work, the constancy of effort, and the clarity of vision for long. Only the countries that advance, invest, and unite endure. **A Clear Mission.** The mission is now crystal clear: persevere, aim higher, stronger, and more united, under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI. Not by copying imported slogans, but by innovating, assuming our singularity, and confidently occupying the place that is naturally Morocco's on the global chessboard. Yes, "Yes we can," Moroccan style. Let us build together a stronger Morocco and a more confident Africa, not through denigration or sterile comparison, but through work, complementarity, and collective engagement. The world advances and waits for no one. Morocco has understood this. It is now up to each to choose: join this movement or stay on the sidelines of History. There will always be football cups.

Morocco Facing the Red Poppy Syndrome: When Success Becomes a Target... 6412

Aziz Daouda, 2 mon.
- Politics - Society - Sports -
2.5 min read.
We often speak of the "red poppy syndrome," or *Tall Poppy Syndrome* in English. This is a sociological and cultural theory according to which, in certain groups or societies, those who outperform others, succeed too much, or stand out excessively are criticized, belittled, or "cut down" to preserve a semblance of equality within the group. In short, success disturbs and becomes detrimental to those who lack it. Efforts are then made in all directions to at least denigrate and gossip about those who excel. The metaphor comes precisely from the idea that, in a field of poppies, those that grow taller than the others are cut down to keep the field uniform. The red poppy syndrome thus refers to this well-known mechanism by which success that is too visible calls not for emulation, but for the will to bring it down by any means necessary. On the African regional scale, Morocco today provides the clearest illustration. Not because it proclaims itself a model, but because its achievements impose themselves, provoking tensions, jealousies, and obstructionist strategies. In essence, a Morocco that disturbs because it succeeds. In recent years, the Kingdom has relentlessly accumulated transformative successes: active African diplomacy, high-quality infrastructure, especially world-class sports facilities, recognized organizational credibility, and sports results that are no longer exceptions but the norm. This dynamic, far from rallying others around the country, has awakened in certain regional actors an obsession with systematic contestation, without scruple or limit. The hosting of the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco should have been celebrated as a moment of continental unity and collective African success. Instead, for its detractors, it turned into a battlefield for sabotage aimed less at the event itself than at the host country. The neighborhood is not unrelated to this evident strategy of indirect sabotage that anyone can verify. In this context, it would be naive not to see the role played by Algeria, locked in a rivalry with Morocco that has become almost doctrinal. Unable to compete on the field of performance, Algiers has long shifted the battle to the terrain of discreditation, suspicion, and peripheral agitation. Failing to prevent the awarding or holding of the competition, the strategy consisted of polluting its narrative environment: questioning fairness, sowing doubt about refereeing, insinuating collusions, manufacturing suspicion where facts resist. A classic method: when you can't cut down the poppy, you try to tarnish its color. And since it always finds support among some, ideologized media relays have perfectly taken up the baton. This enterprise would not have had the same reach without the active involvement of certain ideologically aligned French journalists, often from circles marked by long-standing hostility toward Morocco and its monarchy. Throughout the competition, a segment of this so-called "progressive" press poured out venom in the form of insinuations, kangaroo courts, and barely veiled accusations against the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and its leaders, if not the Moroccan state itself. Investigative journalism here gave way to disguised activism, where suspicion substitutes for proof and Moroccan success becomes, by principle, suspect. This treatment was neither neutral nor innocent: it was part of a delegitimization strategy, carefully maintained. By ricochet, certain African complicities emerged, and recycled frustrations became uninhibited. Even more concerning, attitudes from some African officials or leaders have fueled this toxic climate. Untimely statements, outrageous contestations, misplaced victimhood postures: so many elements that gave the impression that sports frustrations were recycled into political accusations, in disregard of sports ethics. Whether conscious instrumentalization or mere opportunism, the result is the same: an attempt to weaken Morocco by voices supposed to embody the spirit of African fraternity. But despite everything, the maneuver failed and is turning against its instigators. For reality is stubborn. The Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco was a resounding organizational, popular, financial, media, economic, and sporting success. African fans, delegations, and honest observers saw and experienced it. Suspicion campaigns did not mask the essential: Morocco delivered what it promised. In the end, this episode reveals a simple and disturbing truth: the problem is not that Morocco wins, organizes, and advances. The problem, for some, is that it does so too well, too visibly, too sustainably while they fail to do so. And in an African field of poppies, those who relentlessly try to cut down the one that stands out often end up revealing their own inability to grow. The beautiful poppy will continue to grow... especially since it has been well watered by abundant rain. Thank God. As for the Cups, there will be plenty more opportunities to lift them...

AFCON: The urgent need for a code of ethics to restore the spirit of African football 6559

Aziz Daouda, 2 mon.
- Politics - Society - Sports -
2.8 min read.
The very recent Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, intended as a celebration of African football in all its diversity and fervor, has left a bitter taste, profound bitterness, immeasurable disappointment, immense pain, and injuries. *What a shame to reward a country that gave everything to celebrate Africa in this way. What a disgrace to incite crowds to commit physical aggressions and to may leave a family orphaned.* Beyond sporting performances, several behaviors observed throughout the competition have sparked incomprehension, indignation, and sometimes shame. Verbal outbursts, provocative attitudes, repeated questioning of refereeing, and irresponsible statements from those meant to embody the very values of sport have tarnished the image of the AFCON. In press conferences, organized by the CAF to glorify the sport, and outside them, some have uttered unbelievable remarks, born of their overactive imaginations and petty foolish calculations. The peak of these excesses was reached during the final, with the unworthy behavior of a coach, now widely relayed and commented on by media and social networks. Whatever tensions are inherent to a match of this level, nothing can justify attitudes contrary to the values of sport, respect, and fair play. This is not merely a matter of emotion or rivalry, but of responsibility toward a youth and a continent in the making. The AFCON in Morocco was not just any competition. It was a showcase for African football, watched by the entire world and followed by millions of young people seeking role models. Coaches, players, officials, and leaders are not mere actors: they are references, symbols, and ambassadors. Faced with this damaging reality, it is imperative for the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to take a decisive step forward. Sporadic sanctions, often seen as late or inconsistent, are no longer enough. It is time to establish a binding, clear, and universal code of ethics that every AFCON participant must sign before the competition begins, starting from the qualifying rounds. A moral and legal commitment, a sine qua non condition for participation. Such a code would not aim to curb passion or freedom of expression, but to set clear boundaries between competition and excess, between legitimate contestation and public irresponsibility. The said AFCON Code of Ethics would rest on eight clear, precise, and binding pillars. **1. The fundamental principles of the code would be:** - Respect for football's values: fair play, integrity, dignity, and mutual respect - Respect for the image and reputation of African football - Individual and collective responsibility of every participant **2. Behavior on the field and in the technical area would be strictly regulated:** - Prohibition of any aggressive, provocative, or insulting behavior - Absolute respect for referees and officials, regardless of decisions - Prohibition of gestures, words, or attitudes inciting violence or hatred **3. Off-field behavior is part of the whole:** - Respect for opponents, supporters, media, and institutions - Prohibition of any form of discrimination: racial, national, religious, or otherwise - Exemplary behavior in public places, hotels, stadiums, and mixed zones **4. Communication and public statements must above all respect the rules:** - Obligation of restraint and responsibility in media declarations - Prohibition of questioning the integrity of refereeing without established proof, except before the relevant bodies and not through any other channel - Prohibition of inciting violence or hostile contestation through gesture or word **5. The responsibility of coaches and leaders is fundamental:** - Reinforced obligation of exemplarity due to their authority role - Direct responsibility for the behavior of the technical staff - Commitment to defuse tensions rather than fuel them **6. Social networks and digital communication are part of the game and the competition:** - Application of the code of ethics to social media posts - Personal responsibility for published or relayed messages - Prohibition of defamatory, hateful, or provocative statements **7. Sanctions must be exemplary and without complacency:** - Progressive and clearly defined sanctions: warning, fine, suspension, permanent exclusion - Immediate and transparent application of sanctions - Possibility of aggravated sanctions in case of recidivism or serious acts **8. Formal commitment is a prerequisite for participation in any competition:** - Mandatory signature of the code by all players, coaches, leaders, and officials in an individual document accompanying the lists of players and officials entered in African competitions - Signature of the code is a prerequisite for any AFCON accreditation - Mandatory written acknowledgment of sanctions in case of violation The purpose of the code is obviously to establish exemplarity to protect the future of African football and its competitions. Introducing a code of ethics into AFCON participation procedures is not an admission of weakness, but a sign of maturity. African football has reached a level of visibility and competitiveness thanks to this AFCON in Morocco. The level achieved demands high standards and guarantees. *We cannot tolerate an overheated individual causing an entire edifice to collapse and lives to be threatened, or even lost. Passion can no longer serve as an alibi for excess, victory can never justify the loss of values, and fervor cannot absolve excessive behavior.* The AFCON must remain a celebration, not a theater of excesses. By establishing a clear ethical framework, the CAF would send a strong message: African football must advance, structure itself, and respect itself. Football must unite rather than provoke hatred, hostility, repulsion, crises between nations, or even fuel diplomatic chill... Not to mention more.

Akhenouch's Departure from the RNI: Hasty Decision or Strategic Gambit? 6260

Aziz Daouda, 2 mon.
- Politics - Society -
2.6 min read.
But what really happened? Why such a lightning announcement? Why such a rushed exit by Si Aziz Akhenouch from the helm of the Rassemblement National des Indépendants (RNI), when everything seemed to be going his way? Since taking the reins in 2016, the RNI has experienced a meteoric rise. From a marginal party with just a few dozen MPs, it became the leading parliamentary force after the 2021 legislative elections, with 102 elected members. Even better, it leads the Executive, chairs the House of Representatives, and holds a central position in the institutional architecture. On all classic indicators of political power, Akhenouch is at the top. So, one question arises: why leave now? And above all, why rush an extraordinary congress on February 7, originally scheduled for March, for such a modest time gain? The explanation deserves more than speculation about shadowy forces or backstage plots. Let's stick to cold, rational political logic to unpack Si Akhenouch's bombshell decision, a leader who stands out in Morocco's political landscape. Whether you like him or not, Aziz Akhenouch embodies a bold, modern politics, almost "American-style": focused on performance, communication, and organizational efficiency rather than ideology. He anticipated Morocco's transformations and supported the modernization of infrastructure (high-speed rail, ports, airports). He delivered economic growth, with GDP up 3% in 2024 and even more impressive figures for 2025, despite inflation. He also weathered or triggered a major sociological shift in politics. Gone are the nostalgic independence-era parties, stuck in left/right or rural/urban divides. Akhenouch wooed a pragmatic, de-ideologized electorate—perhaps especially Generation Z, sensitive to tangible results like expanded social coverage (generalized AMO in 2023). People want achievements that make daily life easier, not incantatory speeches. But from victorious leader, Akhenouch has become the scapegoat. Power comes at a price. Since his appointment as head of government in 2021, he has crystallized all the anger and social unrest. For the contentious public, he symbolizes illicit enrichment, the blurring of business and politics, "predatory capitalism." This often comes out in catchy slogan chants that name him explicitly. Fuel over 15 DH per liter? His fault. Vegetables up 20%? Same. Post-Covid hospital saturations? He should have anticipated. Floods, why didn't he warn? Any rational analysis becomes inaudible. Yet far from retreating, he has multiplied "made in USA" mega-rallies across the country, affirming the RNI's vitality. The message: we'll win the next elections. The confidence is there. And then, splash! The recent signal from the Interior Ministry marks a decisive turning point. That's when everything flips. Electoral preparation falls under the Interior Ministry. Behind the scenes, proposals from the Akhenouch camp—on nominations or constituencies, were reportedly ignored or rejected. In Moroccan politics, such signals are never trivial. A master strategist and sharp as he is, Akhenouch sensed the wind shifting. From major asset, he risked becoming an electoral liability, a burdensome handicap. His person, more than his record (social reforms, EU-Morocco trade deals, ongoing projects), is now seen negatively, or as virtually unproductive for the future. What to do? Perhaps step aside to save the RNI. Rather than cling on and draw all the attacks, he chooses to withdraw early, "clear the ground," and give the party a less divisive face. Pure rationality. The wildcard remains the people. The current RNI is built on an opportunistic gathering of notables, often ex-PAM, with keen instincts and conditional loyalty. For them, Akhenouch was the key to power. His departure could trigger defections to other parties or even some quitting politics altogether. A return to PAM by certain figures isn't out of the question... The RNI could thus shrink back to its old size, back to square one, for a probable comeback later with new faces and perspectives. The triggered movement opens an equation with multiple variables. Without Akhenouch, the RNI loses its charismatic engine but gains flexibility. For the country, it's a chance for subtle rebalancing before 2026. Some parties could capitalize on social discontent, while others bet on unions and "tansiqiyates." A general reconfiguration looms, with risks of fragmentation. One thing is certain: politics will never be the same. 2026 will reveal a different Morocco that only the inner circle can imagine. The rest is mere speculation. Moroccans will decide. In the end, this departure is neither flight nor defeat, but a strategic choice based on power dynamics, institutional signals, and electoral psychology. It marks the end of a cycle and opens an era of uncertainty for the entire Moroccan partisan landscape. History remains to be written, for those who, between two matches, still follow politics. In any case, Si Akhenouch has just given a real lesson to all those leaders and imams who cling to their perches and refuse to step down... Once they've tasted the perks... Citizens won't have to wait long to learn who their next head of government will be, their next scapegoat.

CAN 2025: The Paradox of Origins and the Urgency to Save African Championships Through the CHAN 5896

Aziz Daouda, 2 mon.
- Politics - Society - Sports -
2.7 min read.
Figures are sometimes more eloquent and edifying than speeches. The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (CAN), unfolding under the banner of diversity and the diaspora, reveals a deeply worrying reality for the future of African football: **Africa now only partially nurtures its own flagship competition**. It imports it to a very large extent. According to a Foot Mercato study, France is the leading country of birth for players at CAN 2025, with 107 players born on its soil. A staggering figure, unmatched by any African country. Île-de-France alone provides 45 players, making it the most prolific region in the CAN—ahead of historic African football capitals like Abidjan, Bamako, Casablanca, or Dakar. This observation is far from anecdotal. It is structural, historical, and political. In reality, it represents a complete reversal of the course of history. For decades, the CAN was the showcase for African championships. Remember the one won by Morocco in 1976... Local competitions in Egypt, Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Tunisia, or Nigeria were the natural reservoirs for national teams. The CAN was an extension of domestic football, its pinnacle and international realization. Today, the course of history has reversed. It is no longer African championships that feed the CAN, but European training centers, European clubs, and European sports systems. Across all squads, 186 players were born in Europe—more than a quarter of participants. And this figure says nothing about the actual place of training, which is overwhelmingly European even for players born in Africa. With exceptions like Morocco's Mohammed VI Academy and Senegal's Génération Foot to a lesser extent. Thus, African championships are progressively relegated to the role of national entertainment leagues—very useful for sustaining local passion but disconnected from the continental top level. The African Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup remain quite anecdotal. The diaspora is certainly an immeasurable wealth... but it can also signal a failure. It would be absurd to deny the human and cultural richness represented by the diaspora. CAN 2025 is a global crossroads of trajectories, memories, and multiple identities. Morocco's national team—a mix of players born and trained in the country and others born in various countries—perfectly illustrates this positive globalization of African football. But for some countries on the continent, this diversity masks a collective admission: Africa can no longer retain, train, and develop its talents on its own soil until their sporting maturity. Young players leave earlier and earlier. The best sometimes never even pass through an African championship. They arrive in the national team as "finished products," shaped elsewhere according to different economic and sporting logics. In this context, the CHAN becomes a strategic necessity, not a secondary competition at all. The African Nations Championship takes on a crucial dimension. Too often seen as a second-tier event, it is actually the last structuring bulwark for the survival and credibility of African championships. Today, the CHAN is: - the only continental competition that exclusively promotes players from local leagues; - the only space where African clubs gain visibility on a continental scale; - a concrete lever to slow the early exodus of talents; - a tool for positive pressure on states and federations to improve infrastructure, governance, and league competitiveness. Without the CHAN, African championships gradually disappear from the international—and even continental—radar. There is thus an imperative need to develop the CHAN to rebalance African football. Simply continuing to organize it is no longer enough. It must be strengthened, promoted, and fully integrated into the CAF's overall strategy for: - Better media exposure; - Better calendar alignment with local leagues; - Real financial incentives for clubs; - Clear articulation between CHAN, interclub competitions, and CAN. The CHAN must become what it should always have been: the foundation of African football, not its appendix. Countries that haven't understood this or hold a contrary view should come to their senses and step up. This concerns them and the continent as a whole in reclaiming control of our own football narrative. CAN 2025 tells a beautiful story of diasporas and shared roots. But it also tells a more worrying story: that of a continent applauding talents it no longer produces at home—or only partially. Faced with this reality, abandoning or marginalizing the CHAN would be a historic mistake. Strengthening it, on the contrary, is choosing sporting sovereignty, economic sustainability, and the dignity of African football. It's also the best way to secure a strong position as a major player in world football. The Kingdom of Morocco has perfectly integrated this. It is present at every CHAN edition and doesn't play the role of a mere bystander. On the contrary, it knows full well that this continental competition, like youth categories, is the true springboard and a solid platform for harmonious and sustainable development. Without strong championships, there is no strong football. Without the CHAN, there will soon be no more African football... only football of African origin.

Moulay El Hassan's Style: Elegance, Humility, and Sovereignty of Gesture... 8301

Aziz Daouda, 3 mon.
- Politics - Society - Lifestyle -
2.9 min read.
Sometimes, a moment transcends the event that made it possible. The opening ceremony of the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, hosted in Morocco, will undoubtedly remain in memories not only for its technology, beauty, thematic relevance, and unprecedented quality in Africa; not for its sporting and diplomatic importance, but above all for the silent, almost choreographed performance of Crown Prince **Moulay El Hassan**. Under pouring rain, in a packed stadium and under the crossed gazes of Moroccan and international audiences, the Prince surprised the uninitiated. Not through ostentation, but through sobriety. Not through distance, but through proximity. That evening, Morocco offered Africa and the world far more than a football tournament: a lesson in style, behavior, and hospitality through the elegance of gesture and nobility of demeanor. Without an umbrella, advancing calmly onto the soaked pitch of the **Stade Moulay Abdellah**, Crown Prince stops, warmly greets a charmed, enthusiastic, fervent crowd, and heads toward the referees and players with disarming naturalness. The images speak for themselves: smiles, simple exchanges, a friendly and deeply human tone. No heavy protocol, no rigidity. Just the evident poise of a man at ease in his mission, with presence and class. When he asks the referee which side to kick the ball from for the symbolic kick-off, the gesture becomes almost metaphorical. That of a throne heir who knows that true authority need not be imposed, but is exercised through respect, affection, and listening. The ball is struck with elegance, without emphasis. The message, however, is crystal clear. Joy is evident. Morocco is host and common home to an entire continent in the making. The Prince proves it. As a true Moroccan, Crown Prince masters this ancestral art: that of receiving and putting guests at ease. The nations present at the CAN are Morocco's guests. And, at a deeper level still, they are the guests of all Moroccans, led by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist him, as the president of FIFA **Gianni Infantino** and that of the CAF **Patrice Motsepe**, South African as a reminder, delight in repeating. By presiding over this ceremony and representing his august father, Prince Moulay El Hassan embodied not only institutional continuity. He embodied a culture: that of a Kingdom where hospitality is a cardinal value, and where sovereignty is also expressed through courtesy. Seated in the Royal Box alongside the President of the Comoros, **Gianni Infantino**, **Patrice Motsepe**, and the president of the FRMF **Fouzi Lekjaa**, the Prince followed the match with visible attention, reacting to key moments like any football enthusiast, expressing sincere joy and shared emotion. When **Ayoub El Kaabi** scores his splendid acrobatic overhead kick in the 74th minute, the Prince's joy is spontaneous, sincere, almost contagious. It is not a calculated joy, but that of a young man proud of his team, his country, and the historic moment the Kingdom and Africa are experiencing. At that very instant, he turns and respectfully greets his guest: the President of the Comoros. Relations and cooperation with these sister islands, though distant, are special. Nearly all the high officials of this brother nation, including the president himself, were trained in Morocco's great schools and universities. This ability of His Royal Highness to shift seamlessly from protocol to emotion may be one of the most striking traits of this performance. It humanizes the role without ever weakening it. It recalls the royal solicitude at Marrakech hospital: His Majesty leaning over a hospital bed and embracing a Sub-Saharan injured man who thanks him wholeheartedly and seems to have forgotten his misfortune. There, in Rabat, on this evening of December 21, the rain is a symbol: between gratitude and destiny. That evening held another dimension, subtler, almost spiritual. After seven consecutive years of drought, this abundant rain falling on Rabat at that precise moment took on particular resonance. The princely gesture, performed without protection amid a downpour, appeared to many as a form of silent gratitude, a thanks to divine mercy. Long live the abundant rain and snows on the peaks of the Atlas. In a monarchy where the long term, symbolism, and the sacred matter as much as the media instant, this image has marked minds. It reminded that power in Morocco is rooted in historical and spiritual continuity, that of the world's oldest reigning dynasty. That of the Commander of the Faithful. Did not the late Hassan II thank God, traversing Khemisset standing with arms raised, through a long-awaited downpour? The Prince is an exceptional man in the making: brilliant student, insightful doctoral candidate, resolute Moroccan, convinced Muslim, determined African, erudite humanist. The final victory of the Atlas Lions (2-0) merely capped off an evening already rich in meaning. But beyond the score, it is Crown Prince's behavior that will remain one of the highlights of this CAN opening. Through his humility, elegance, and mastery of codes, **Moulay El Hassan** showed that he is not merely a blood royal heir, but an heir to enduring values. And that may be where the respect, love, and admiration of the Moroccan public, and the surprise of the international one—lie: in having seen, under the rain, the portrait of a future great leader who understands that greatness often begins with the simplicity of the gesture.

The Moroccan Paradox: Between Tangible Progress and Social Disenchantment... 8351

Aziz Daouda, 3 mon.
- Politics - Society - Lifestyle -
2.8 min read.
Macroeconomic and social indicators paint the picture of a Morocco in profound transformation. Today's Morocco bears little resemblance to that of the early post-independence decades. Life expectancy, which stagnated around half a century in the 1960s, now exceeds three-quarters of a century. Policies on electrification, drinking water access, schooling, and healthcare coverage have yielded visible results, even if pockets of fragility persist. The country has gained nearly thirty years of life expectancy and significantly reduced poverty. Consumption patterns have diversified, domestic tourism has grown, and leisure practices have spread. Social behaviors are gradually aligning with those seen in upper-middle-income countries, if not beyond. Yet, this overall positive situation coexists with a diffuse sense of malaise. Pessimism persists, coupled with growing distrust of political institutions, manifesting as civic disenchantment. How to explain this gap between measurable, tangible progress and a collective sentiment sometimes marked by self-deprecation? Economically, despite exogenous shocks, pandemic, repeated droughts, geopolitical tensions, imported inflation, the trajectory remains broadly upward. The boom in infrastructure, development of export industries (automotive, aeronautics, phosphate and derivatives), the rise of services, and progressive integration into global value chains are regularly praised by international institutions, which are unanimous on the country's resilience and advances in human development. Urban planning and beautification are simply stunning. By the data alone, life is indisputably "better" in Morocco today than twenty, thirty, or fifty years ago. Yet, this objective improvement does not mechanically translate into a sense of well-being. Well-being is never measured in absolute terms. It is built through comparison: with yesterday, with others, with what one perceives as possible or legitimate. As society progresses, expectations rise, diversify, and become more demanding. Citizens no longer settle for access to basic services; they aspire to quality, recognition, and dignity. The widespread access to information and social networks has amplified this hall of mirrors. Western living standards, globalized consumption patterns, and lifestyles of local or international elites are constantly on display. The frame of reference no longer stops at the neighboring village or previous generation but extends to far wealthier societies or privileged minorities. This imagined gap between what is and what is seen, sometimes fantasized, fuels frustration that can coexist with real improvements in material conditions. Thus, the sense of downward mobility reflects less an objective regression than a mismatch between rapidly expanding aspirations and economic, social, and institutional responses progressing at a pace deemed insufficient. Progress does not mask persistent fractures. Gaps between urban and rural worlds, coastal regions and hinterlands, socioeconomic categories are narrowing but remain stark in perception and feeling. The middle class feels it is navigating a zone of uncertainty. It enjoys a higher standard of living than the previous generation but feels vulnerable. Even with positive macroeconomic indicators, many households' difficulty in projecting serenely into the medium term—planning projects, anticipating social mobility, securing retirement—feeds a diffuse anxiety. Uncertainty, more than poverty in the strict sense, becomes a central factor in the malaise. This unease extends beyond the economic or social sphere. It finds a powerful amplifier in the crisis of trust toward political actors. Opinion polls show growing distrust of parties, elected officials, and mediating institutions. Achievements are not sufficiently explained or embodied by credible leaders, and many citizens feel inequity, pinning their sentiment on politics. Politics is often seen as a closed space, dominated by careerism and clientelism. Expectations in electoral alternations are regularly disappointed, leading to frustration spilling over the entire political field. Politicians become symbolic receptacles for a malaise that far exceeds their actual actions. This phenomenon is reinforced by the temporality of public policies. Many reforms, educational, social, territorial, produce long-term effects, while citizens demand quick, tangible results in daily life. Lacking pedagogy, transparency, and collective narrative, public policies remain abstract, their benefits invisible or attributed to other factors. Moroccan pessimism does not necessarily take the form of radical contestation. It often manifests as "gentle nihilism": electoral abstention, associational disengagement, retreat into the private sphere, rise of irony and cynicism in public debate, self-deprecating discourse about the country itself. This climate erodes confidence in the collective capacity to transform reality. This nihilism is ambivalent. It coexists with strong aspirations for individual success and international recognition of the country. It does not signal rejection of progress but doubt about the system's ability to offer prospects to all, not just the usual beneficiaries. The challenge for Morocco thus goes beyond the economic or social dimension. It is also symbolic and political. How to ensure tangible progress translates into a shared sense of collective advancement? How to reconnect individual trajectories with a clear, credible vision of the future? Without a shared narrative, even positive figures struggle to convince. The Moroccan paradox is not that of a stagnant country but of a society in motion, traversed by constant tension between real progress and hopes. It is in the ability to transform this tension into reform energy that the future largely lies. The CAN, with circulating videos conveying foreign satisfaction and astonishment at Morocco's progress, could be the hoped-for turning point. Life is good in Morocco.

Emerging African Power or Missed Opportunity: Lomé 2025 Between Historic Pivot and Strategic Shipwreck... 8140

Aziz Daouda, 3 mon.
- World Politics - Politics -
2.3 min read.
In Lomé, from December 8 to 12, 2025, the 9th Pan-African Congress transcended its usual commemorative rituals to become a strategic headquarters. Or at least, it tried to. Governments, intellectuals, business leaders, diasporas, and activists hammered home a merciless diagnosis: in a world fractured by hybrid wars, broken supply chains, and declining or repositioning empires, Africa can no longer settle for mere survival. It must impose a doctrine of collective power, or perish as a playground for giants. Gone are the days of lyrical discourse panafricanism and ideological jousts. The shift has been made from symbol to sword, with panafricanism as a geopolitical weapon. In Lomé, Faure Gnassingbé, the Togolese president and host, set the tone from the outset: African unity is no longer a moral utopia, but a shield against predators. Facing a China that locks down cobalt mines, Russia and Sahel issues, and the United States dictating vague norms, Africa chooses rupture. Gnassingbé said it bluntly: without coordination, the continent remains prey; with it, it becomes a pivot. The debates dissected fragmentation, focusing on crises in the Sahel, tensions in Sudan, and piracy in Somalia. The alternative is binary: vassalization or collective sovereignty. Lomé thus lays the groundwork for a defensive alliance, possibly inspired by the BRICS, to counter voracious interferences. No one hesitated to declare that multilateralism is crumbling to shreds. Africa, at least in discourse, is thus storming the fortresses. Ministers sounded the alarm: the UN, IMF, and WTO under-represent Africa, the true demographic bastion that will boast 2.5 billion people by 2050 and an indispensable energy sanctuary with its sun, lithium, and green hydrogen. The continent is asking the fundamental question: why hand over the reins to institutions frozen in the post-1945 era? Thus, in Lomé, the Congress forced itself to outline an offensive roadmap with crystal-clear ideas: - Diplomatic coordination and a united front at the UN to block biased resolutions. - The need for institutional reforms, demanding two permanent seats on the Security Council and veto rights. - Sovereign voice through aligning regional votes, notably at the AU and ECOWAS, on common interests rather than national whims or outdated ideological aims. The stakes are to redefine the rules of the game. Africa is no longer content with folding seats. It wants to influence global trade, sanctions, and climate norms, where it foots the bill without reaping the benefits. The diaspora, as the secret weapon of an Afro-global geopolitics from Bogotá to São Paulo, stole the show in Lomé. Francia Márquez, Colombia's vice-president, reminded attendees of the 200 million Afro-descendants in the Americas: a strategic depth ignored for too long. South-South alliances, reparations as diplomatic weapons against post-colonial Europe, and capital flows via the US diaspora are assets and pathways for a radical posture shift. Lomé thus expands panafricanism to include the diaspora as a lobby in Washington and Brussels, a vector for tech (AI, fintech) and cultural soft power. Against China's Belt and Road, a transnational African counter-network is taking shape. Regional pre-congresses had already proposed a clear, concrete action plan: - Technological independence: Mastering artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing to end Western domination. - Pan-African elites by reforming education to train African leaders and strategists, not those who flee the continent. - Controlled migration: Implementing a continent-wide common policy to turn population movements into a demographic asset, rather than suffering Europe's barriers. - Active memory: Linking slavery and colonialism to concrete economic demands, like canceling unjust debts and paying royalties on mineral resources. In essence, axes of power for 2030 based on technology, education, and migration. Africa is shifting from reaction to projection, anticipating a multipolar world where it rivals India or ASEAN. But as always in Africa, it's legitimate to ask the fundamental question: Lomé, pivot or mirage? The hope is that this congress is not a flash in the pan but rather a sketch—a doctrine for power through unity, influence, and coordination. The devil is in the execution. Will internal and regional rivalries, and bellicose temptations, continue to divide? The Greater Maghreb, for our part, has known this story for 50 years. Lomé 2025 issues an ultimatum: shared strategy or eternal irrelevance? Africa, emerging pole or sacrificed pawn? The answer is playing out now and concerns upcoming African generations... They will never forgive our current mistakes and foolish divisions...

Law 30-09: A “Tree with Bitter Fruits” Hindering the Development of Moroccan Sports 8116

Imad Khater, 3 mon.
- Politics - Society - Sports -
2.5 min read.
While Morocco’s recent performances on the international stage—particularly in football—demonstrate its growing dynamism, the legal framework governing the sports sector seems unable to keep pace with this evolution. Conceived in the wake of the 2008 Royal Letter and enacted in 2010, Law No. 30-09, which was meant to modernize the national sports system, now reveals—fifteen years after its delayed implementation—serious limitations. Marked by internal inconsistencies, deficient enforcement, and pervasive state interference, the law ultimately undermines its original purpose: to professionalize Moroccan sport and align it with international standards. I. Excessive Requirements and Forgotten Sanctions Born from a clear political will to reform Moroccan sport and provide it with a modern legal framework, Law 30-09 has quickly become a rigid and impractical instrument. One of its most emblematic—and controversial—provisions is the obligation imposed on certain sports associations to establish sports corporations (Sociétés Anonymes). While the intent was to ensure sound governance, fiscal transparency, and executive accountability, practice has revealed the limits of this approach. •⁠ ⁠A disproportionate constraint. Most associations lack the financial and organizational capacity to comply with such structural obligations. •⁠ ⁠A flawed and inapplicable framework. The law establishes three non-cumulative conditions triggering the obligation to form a sports company. Only the first has been clarified by regulation, while the other two—relating to turnover and payroll—were never defined by governmental decree. As a result, the rule remains largely inoperative, especially since the penalties for non-compliance are systematically ignored. •⁠ ⁠An unfinished reform. Even among the few clubs that have complied, the parent association still holds the majority of the share capital. This structural lock prevents the opening of capital to private investors, thus maintaining dependency on the old associative model rather than promoting professionalization. II. The Persistent Shadow of the State: An Interference Contrary to Autonomy Principles By its very nature, sport is a sphere of autonomy, an ethos enshrined in the Moroccan Constitution and in the regulations of international organizations such as FIFA. Yet Law 30-09 establishes the supervising ministry as the true guardian of the sector, concentrating significant and often excessive powers: •⁠ ⁠An extensive right of scrutiny. The ministry approves statutes, grants accreditation, and confers authorization to national federations. •⁠ ⁠A pronounced power of interference. The administration may impose standard contracts and, more seriously, revoke authorization or dissolve a federation in the event of a “serious violation.” Such prerogatives contradict the spirit of the Constitution, which reserves this power to the judiciary. •⁠ ⁠Institutional omnipresence. A state representative must sit within the governing bodies of both the national federations and the Moroccan National Olympic Committee (CNOM), reinforcing state oversight at the expense of autonomy. This predominant executive control contradicts the principles of independence that underpin both national constitutional law and the global sports governance model. III. The Ambiguous Status of Athletes: The Law’s Major Omission Beyond institutional deficiencies, Law 30-09 exposes a serious legal vacuum regarding the status of athletes. The professional athlete’s contract is treated as an ordinary employment contract—an assimilation that raises significant difficulties. •⁠ ⁠The legislator had to create several exceptions to the Labour Code (five-year fixed-term contracts, exclusivity clauses, conditions for unilateral termination), resulting in an incoherent hybrid regime. •⁠ ⁠Although classified as “employees,” professional athletes do not enjoy the social protection and retirement benefits normally afforded to workers. •⁠ ⁠As for amateur athletes, their status remains completely unaddressed by the law. The provisions aimed at supporting athlete training and post-career reconversion are equally deficient. They are neither mandatory nor widely implemented, few training centers exist, and many athletes lack the educational background needed to benefit from such programs. IV. The Need for a Moroccan Sports Code Faced with these structural weaknesses, a piecemeal revision of the law is no longer adequate. The codification of sports law—through the adoption of a comprehensive Moroccan Sports Code—is now an imperative step toward supporting the country’s international ambition. Drawing inspiration from the French model, such a reform would serve several key purposes: 1.⁠ ⁠Clarifying and consolidating the dispersed legal texts, regulations, and case law to facilitate specialization among legal practitioners. 2.⁠ ⁠Correcting inconsistencies by redefining the jurisdictional competences of the State and creating a sui generis legal status for professional and amateur athletes. 3.⁠ ⁠Modernizing the legal framework by integrating fiscal and social regimes specific to sports entities and individuals. Despite its initial promise of modernization, Law 30-09 has become a “tree with bitter fruits.” Instead of fostering professionalism, it has constrained the sector and amplified its institutional fragility. Only a complete codification—reflecting Morocco’s socio-economic realities and the principles of good governance—can ensure a coherent, autonomous, and sustainable framework for the country’s sports development.

Waking Up in the Dark: School Schedules Adapted to Morocco's 21st-Century Child... 7715

Aziz Daouda, 4 mon.
- Politics - Society - Lifestyle -
2.9 min read.
What inspired these lines is a letter published by a father on social media, which states in essence: "I am writing to you as a concerned parent, but also as a citizen exhausted by a government choice that, year after year, ignores common sense: maintaining a schedule where our children wake up when it's still pitch black to go to school. Every morning, it's the same absurd scenario: wake-up at dawn, children torn from sleep, eyes still closed, bodies tired, forced to go out into the darkness, sometimes in the cold, to reach their school. Sleepy students in class, weakened concentration, growing irritability. How can we talk about quality learning in these conditions?" Beyond fatigue, there is danger. Many parents lack the means to accompany their children. These children walk alone on streets still shrouded in darkness, exposed to risks of traffic accidents, assaults, or incivilities. This fact alone should question the relevance of this schedule. Yet the government persists in defending this choice in the name of economic or energy arguments, without ever weighing the well-being, health, and safety of our children against them. We are not asking for the impossible, only a return to a human rhythm, adapted to the reality of our society. Through this letter, I hope this debate will finally be opened seriously. Our children are not adjustable variables. They deserve a normal wake-up, in daylight, and a school that respects their fundamental needs." It lays out the ordeal experienced by children and parents and challenges the school rhythm imposed on our children. In fact, current school schedules are based on an organization largely inherited from the early 20th century, designed for a society with more stable temporalities, not at all connected and less exposed to constant stimulation. However, scientific studies have converged for some time on a single observation: there is a growing gap between these institutional frameworks and the biological, cognitive, and psychosocial needs of the contemporary child. Even better, the 21st-century child evolves in an environment marked by the omnipresence of screens, the multiplication of digital interactions, and the porosity between school time, family time, and leisure time. Research in chronobiology clearly establishes that exposure to artificial light, particularly blue light emitted by screens, delays melatonin secretion, the key hormone for falling asleep. This late-night exposure permanently disrupts wake-sleep cycles in children and adolescents, making early bedtime biologically difficult, regardless of the educational rules set by families. In this context, maintaining very early school schedules amounts to instituting a chronic sleep debt in the child. Yet, the role of sleep in learning is now solidly documented. Neurosciences show that sleep is essential for memory consolidation, emotional regulation, and the proper functioning of executive functions such as attention, planning, and cognitive control. Regular sleep deprivation is associated with decreased academic performance, increased irritability, and attention disorders that can exacerbate learning difficulties. North American studies provide particularly instructive insights: delaying the start of classes, associated with improved sleep time, leads to better academic results, attendance, mental health, and a reduction in road accidents involving adolescents. The American Academy of Pediatrics explicitly recommends later school schedules for adolescents, in line with their naturally shifted circadian rhythm. Lacking precise studies in Morocco, let's look at what is said elsewhere. Research shows that during adolescence, the biological clock physiologically shifts toward a later bedtime. Forcing a very early wake-up thus directly conflicts with a normal biological process. Ignoring this well-established data undermines the very conditions of learning and well-being. To cognitive fatigue are added issues of safety and social inequalities. The early schedules still imposed in Morocco expose many children to travel in darkness, increasing road and urban risks. For example, OECD studies emphasize that learning conditions extend beyond the classroom: travel time, accumulated fatigue, and family context strongly influence academic trajectories. The most modest families have less leeway for adaptation in accompaniment, secure transport, and educational compensation, turning school schedules into an indirect but real factor of inequalities. Economic, organizational, or energy imperatives cannot justify the status quo. Several international analyses show the exorbitant long-term costs of sleep deprivation: in terms of school dropout, anxiety disorders, reduced productivity, and health problems. These cumulative costs far exceed the adjustments needed for a reform of schedules. The OECD regularly insists on the importance of investing in student well-being as a condition for the effectiveness of education systems. Rethinking school schedules is therefore neither about comfort, laxity, nor whimsy. It is a rational approach, grounded in robust scientific data. Pedagogical effectiveness is not measured by the number of hours spent at school or the earliness of wake-up, but by the quality of attention, the cognitive availability of children, and the engagement of students and teachers. This reflection must fit into a comprehensive approach. Experts emphasize the need to coordinate school schedules, screen time management, workload, balance between family and educational life, and mental health. A high-performing education system is one capable of integrating scientific insights and evolving with the society it serves. In the era of permanent connectivity, persisting with rigid patterns institutionalizes fatigue from childhood. Taking into account the needs of the child, rather than the constraints of the adult world, is not a pedagogical utopia. It is a scientific, social, and ultimately political imperative. Morocco has all the means to undertake a genuine reflection on the issue and should initiate it as the basis for a true education reform.

Mustapha Hadji, African Ballon d’Or: From the Silence of the Pastures to the Voice of the Stadiums... 7597

Aziz Daouda, 4 mon.
- Politics - Society - Sports -
3.4 min read.
Mustapha Hadji's record of achievements fits into a few lines, but each one carries immense weight in the history of African football, Moroccan youth, and especially for Mustapha himself. African Ballon d’Or in 1998, key architect of Morocco's epic run at the World Cup in France, respected international, elegant playmaker, discreet ambassador for football and the youth of Morocco's pre-desert interior. Titles, distinctions, numbers. And yet, reducing Hadji to his record would miss the essence: a rare human journey, almost cinematic, that begins far from the spotlight. For before the European pitches, before the anthems and trophies, there was a douar near Guelmim. A harsh, rugged region where childhood unfolds to the rhythm of the sun and the herds. The wind is dry and fierce. The horizon stretches endlessly. Children there gaze at the Atlas and the majesty of its summits at every moment. The soil is hard and rocky. Like many children his age, Mustapha became a shepherd as soon as he could walk, as soon as he could be independent. He quickly became the guardian of what his family and douar held most precious: goats and sheep. He learned patience, solitude, and observation early on. Qualities that would later make him a unique player, able to read the game before others, sense the ball, and adjust his movement. The turning point came with family reunification. Destination: France. The shock was immense. Change of language, climate, social codes. At school, Mustapha struggled to fit in. He didn't understand everything, spoke little, often withdrawing into himself. But where words failed, the ball became his language. It was on neighborhood fields that his talent began to shine. Instinctive, fluid football, almost poetic. No calculations, just the joy of playing, of finally expressing himself, of showing what he was capable of. Around him, kind eyes lingered. Coaches, educators, humanistic figures who saw beyond academic or linguistic struggles. And above all, there was a father who rose early to work and a mother who watched over them. A constant, demanding, protective presence. She guided, encouraged, reminded them of the importance of work and discipline. It was in her genes. She knew where she came from. Nothing was left to chance. From there, the ascent became unstoppable. Club by club, Mustapha Hadji refined his game. He wasn't the strongest or the fastest, but he understood football. The ball adopted and loved him. He played between the lines, made others play, elevated the collective. His style stood out in an era dominated by physicality. He imposed a different grammar: that of intelligence and creativity. 1998 marked the pinnacle. The World Cup in France revealed Hadji to the wider public. Morocco captivated, impressed, came close to a feat. Hadji was its technical soul. Months later, the African Ballon d’Or crowned this singular trajectory. Continental recognition, but also a powerful symbol: a child of Guelmim becoming a reference in African football. Without ever denying his roots, he elevated them in his story. He always evokes them with nostalgia and gratitude. After the heights, Mustapha Hadji didn't turn into a flashy icon. He remained true to a certain sobriety. That of the Moor descending from the man of Jbel Ighoud. Like his 40 million compatriots, he embodies 350,000 years of history, no scandals, few bombastic statements. Rare elegance, on and off the pitch. Later, he would pass on knowledge, support, advise, always with the same discretion. Mustapha Hadji's story deserves more than a one-off tribute. It calls for a series, a long-form narrative. Because it speaks of exile and integration, transmission and merit, raw talent shaped by effort and human guidance. Above all, it reminds us that behind every trophy hides a child, often silent, who learned to turn fragility into strength. In a modern football world sometimes afflicted by amnesia, Mustapha Hadji's path remains a lesson. A lesson in play, but above all a lesson in life. During the 4th African Days of Investment and Employment, dedicated to football as a vector for socio-economic inclusion, held at the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences - Souissi, in Rabat, Mustapha was invited to the stage by Dounia Siraj, the icon of sports journalism, another example of success from innovative, committed, confident youth. She masterfully directed a ceremony where she had to, among other things, give the floor to Fouzi Lakjaa and Midaoui. She did so without flinching, with a steady voice and dignified posture. Mustapha spoke and shared his story. The words were powerful, precise, and true. The posture was dignified. The audience was moved. The many young students listened in awe. They were living a unique moment. Rare inspiration. Mustapha, smiling, recounted. The words flowed in a breathtaking narrative. That's when I spoke up to challenge Moroccan cinema. Doesn't this unique story, like so many others, deserve to be told in a film, in a series? Mustapha's words and expressions are so powerful that, translated into images, they could show all emerging youth the values of work, seriousness, self-confidence, and commitment. The Marrakech Festival had just closed the day before. As Mustapha spoke, I dreamed of seeing a film about Mustapha Hadji win the Golden Star... at a future edition. Moroccan cinema should play that role too. That of perpetuating the Kingdom's youth successes. Cinema must tell us, and especially the youth, these great stories of achievement in countless fields—and God knows there are many. Don't the stories of Nezha Bidouane, Hicham El Guerrouj, Said Aouita, Salah Hissou, Moulay Brahim Boutayeb, Abdelmajid Dolmy, Si Mohamed Timoumi or Achik, Nawal El Moutawakel deserve to be told in books, in films? Those of Jilali Gharbaoui, Mohamed Choukri, Abdelouhab Doukkali, Abdelhadi Belkhayat, Tayeb Seddiki, Tayeb Laalj, Fatna Bent Lhoucine, Fadoul, Miloud Chaabi, Haj Omar Tissir (Nesblssa), and many more—don't they deserve to be brought to the screen? Thank you, Si Mustapha, for being a great player, a national pride, and above all for continuing to do what you do with brilliance: motivating and inspiring our youth, sharpening our national pride through this renewed education, the pillar of a sovereign Morocco that lifts its youth toward a prosperous and enlightened future.

Law 30-09 on Physical Education and Sports in Morocco: An Obsolete Brake on Sport Development... 7456

Aziz Daouda, 4 mon.
- Politics - Society - Sports -
2.8 min read.
Promulgated in 2010, Law 30-09 aimed to modernize Moroccan sports governance, regulate the associative movement, and pave the way for professionalization. Fourteen years later, its record is mixed: while it established a formal structure, it has always been said that it fails to meet the demands of modern sports and lacks incentives and encouragement. Today, it is accused of being a **structural brake** on Moroccan sports due to its rigid, ill-adapted, and partially unconstitutional framework. Worse still, launched well before the royal letter to the sports assemblies of 2008, the project underwent no adjustments to align with royal directives. The authors likely believed it sufficiently addressed the letter's content and saw no need to withdraw it. The questioning, already sharp since its promulgation, has intensified in light of the 2011 Constitution, which elevates physical activity to a citizen's right and requires the State to promote high-level sports while fostering associative participation. The approach of the 2030 World Cup, moreover, demands urgent legislative adaptation. During the 4th edition of the African Days of Investment and Employment, dedicated to football as a vector for socio-economic inclusion and organized by the Faculty of Legal, Economic, and Social Sciences-Souissi in Rabat, the president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, Fouzi Lekjaa, stated bluntly that Law 30-09 had run its course and that a new version was needed to support the country's sporting development. The main issues first stem from a **discordance with the 2011 Constitution**. Designed before this fundamental revision, Law 30-09 does not explicitly guarantee the right to sports as a citizen's right. It limits associative freedom through a discretionary approval regime, contradicting the constitutional principle of freedom of association enshrined in the 1958 Public Freedoms Code, which remains in force. Similarly, it assigns the State a vague role in regulation and funding, undermining federations' autonomy and exposing them to administrative paralysis. It is also clear that there is **ambiguity in the status of professional athletes**. Despite constitutional recognition of the right to work and social protection, the law defines neither a clear sports contract nor specific protections. This legal vacuum fuels recurrent conflicts between clubs, players, and federations. A **disconnect with modern sports** is also evident. Tied to a bureaucratic and centralized vision, the law ignores international standards and performance- or objective-based governance mechanisms. Professionalization remains incomplete: clubs lack stable legal structures, economic models are precarious, and private investors are discouraged. The role of local authorities remains unclear, despite advanced regionalization, making sports investments dependent on local wills rather than a coherent national framework. The law's rigidity hampers rapid contracting, flexibility for infrastructure, and federations' independence. It generates administrative delays for public-private partnerships, the absence of status for sports companies, and difficulties integrating international norms, thus blocking attractiveness for private capital. One can thus suspect its **incompatibility with FIFA requirements and the 2030 World Cup**. Criticism extends to the education sector with a certain **inadequacy with educational reform**. While Morocco invests in school and university sports, the law omits any systemic integration between schools, universities, clubs, and federations, as well as pathways between mass and elite sports. The law unduly mixes amateur and professional sports, without distinguishing associative management from clubs' commercial activities. Another weakness lies in the definition of concepts and thus the clear assignment of resulting responsibilities. It subjects the associative fabric, the pillar of the sports movement, to excessive oversight, creating legal insecurity and constant workarounds. Finally, it conceives sports as an educational or cultural activity, ignoring its economic potential: sports jobs, sponsorship, broadcasting rights, specific taxation, and job creation. Conceived in a pre-constitutional context, Law 30-09 is today **obsolete, rigid, and partially unconstitutional**. It hinders governance, professionalization, and the sports economy at a time when Morocco is projecting itself toward major global events. The situation thus leads to the need for a new law: modern, aligned with the Constitution, the intent of the 2008 royal letter, the demands of modern sports in line with international bodies, and responsive to the imperatives for the 2030 World Cup, while inventing a new mode of management and administration detached from political timelines. A mission-oriented administration is widely desired. The new law must align with the constitutional framework by clearly defining concepts, enshrining sports as a citizen's right, protecting associative freedom, and clarifying the State's role (framing, funding, audits, performance contracts). It should distinguish between amateur and professional sports, between clubs and associations, and establish full professionalization: professional athlete status, mandatory sports companies for clubs, regulation of private investments. It must enable sports integration into the national economy via a dedicated tax framework, specific investment code, sectoral recognition, and modernization of sponsorship and TV rights. It must harmonize with FIFA 2030 requirements through greater flexibility, regulate infrastructure, and secure major projects. The new law should define the State's responsibilities in training frameworks and required levels, making academic training the foundation of a national system capable of meeting practice demands and society's true needs. It must also specify the role and responsibilities of regions and local authorities in mass sports, proximity infrastructure creation, and supervision—a sort of municipalization of mass physical activities. This long-awaited new law is **urgent, strategic, and essential** to align Moroccan sports with international standards and national ambitions.

CAN 2025 in Morocco: Reflection of a Major Probable Migratory and Social Transformation... 6630

Aziz Daouda, 4 mon.
- Politics - Society - Sports -
3 min read.
Three weeks before the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, it seems appropriate to revisit key insights from the 2024 General Population and Housing Census (RGPH 2024). This event will undoubtedly have a powerful impact on the country's perception, through the positive images it is already broadcasting and, consequently, on future demographic data. The census shows that out of 36.8 million recorded inhabitants, 148,152 people are foreign nationals, representing nearly 0.4% of the total population, an increase of over 76% compared to 2014. Behind this relatively modest figure lies a structural transformation: the rise of Sub-Saharan African migrants, partial feminization of flows, strong urban concentration, and increasingly qualified profiles. Morocco's geographical position and economic evolution have, in a relatively short time, transformed it from a country of emigration into a space of settlement and transit for migrants with varied profiles. The National Strategy on Immigration and Asylum (SNIA), adopted in 2013, along with the regularization campaigns of 2014 and 2017, have established a more inclusive approach in Morocco and better statistical knowledge of the populations concerned. Sub-Saharan African nationals now represent nearly 60% of migrants, compared to about 27% in 2014. The share of Europeans has declined to just over 20%. That of MENA region nationals is only 7%. Morocco's continental anchoring is thus confirmed. In terms of nationalities, Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire account for more than one-third of foreigners, ahead of France, which remains the leading European nationality with nearly 14% of foreign residents. Other countries like Guinea, Mali, Congo-Brazzaville, Cameroon, or Syria complete this panorama. Foreign residents in Morocco are mostly recent arrivals: more than half report arriving since 2021, and more than one-third between 2011 and 2020, testifying to a very recent acceleration of arrivals. A majority of this population will fill the stands during the CAN. Economic motives overwhelmingly dominate: more than 53% of migrants cite work as the main reason, confirming Morocco's role as a regional attraction pole in sectors such as construction, services, agriculture, and the informal economy. Family reasons follow (a little over 20%), reflecting the growing weight of family reunification and medium- to long-term settlement projects, then studies and post-graduation (about 14%), a sign of the country's academic attractiveness to Sub-Saharan students. Humanitarian motives, flight from conflicts, insecurity, racism, or climate change effects—remain numerically minor. Morocco thus appears as a hybrid space where labor migrations, student mobility, family reunifications, and international protection needs coexist. The vast majority of foreign residents live in cities: nearly 95% are settled in urban areas, confirming the role of major agglomerations as entry points and integration spaces. Two regions clearly dominate: Casablanca-Settat, which hosts more than 43% of foreigners, and Rabat-Salé-Kénitra with a little over 19%, though the latter's share has declined compared to 2014 in favor of Casablanca. Nearly 56% of this population are men, but feminization is progressing, particularly among certain nationalities like Ivorian women and Filipinos, who are very present in personal services and domestic work. More than 80% of foreign residents are between 15 and 64 years old, making them essentially a working-age group, with a non-negligible presence of children and a minority of elderly people. Nearly half of people aged 15 and over are single, while a little over 45% are married, showing the coexistence of individual mobility trajectories and stabilized family projects. The education level appears generally high: nearly 39% hold a higher diploma and 28% have reached secondary level. Employed workers are mostly private sector employees, while a minority work as independents, employers, or public sector employees, highlighting the diversity of professional integration modes. The relatively limited share of unemployed may mask forms of underemployment or precariousness in the informal sector. In 2024, more than 71,000 households include at least one foreign resident. About 31% are exclusively composed of foreigners, while about 69% are mixed households combining Moroccans and foreigners, a proportion sharply up from 2014. This rise in mixed households reflects a deepening of residential and social integration, through mixed marriages, welcoming relatives, or shared cohabitations linked to work and studies. In terms of housing, the majority of foreign households live in apartments, followed by modern Moroccan houses, reflecting integration into the ordinary urban fabric rather than segregated housing forms. Exclusively foreign households are overwhelmingly tenants, while mixed households are more often owners or co-owners, highlighting differentiated settlement trajectories based on household composition. The RGPH 2024 results confirm that the foreign presence in Morocco, though numerically limited, now constitutes a structural and lasting fact of society. The youth, the high proportion of active workers, the rise of family and mixed households, as well as the diversification of educational profiles, call for greater coordination between migration policies, urban, social, and educational policies.The major challenges concern valuing the economic and demographic potential of this population, access to education, health, housing, and decent work, and combating discrimination in a context of cultural pluralization. The SNIA mechanisms to meet Morocco's regional and international commitments in migration governance must also evolve. However, these figures and data will likely undergo real evolution in the coming years: the African media focus on the CAN, and later on the World Cup in Morocco, will reveal the country's assets and increase its attractiveness. These two events, through their combined media weight and the impressions reported by the thousands of expected spectators, should play a promotional role for the country. Deep Africa will discover Morocco and the multiple opportunities it offers, both economically and for studies.