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Maroc: les provinces du sud nouvel eldorado pour l'investissement... 3277

Les provinces du Sud du Maroc connaissent depuis plusieurs années une dynamique exceptionnelle d’investissement. De nombreux pays et entreprises internationales, et non des moindres, sont attirés par le potentiel de la région, notamment dans les secteurs des énergies renouvelables, des infrastructures et de l’industrie. Cela s’inscrit dans la stratégie du Royaume visant à transformer ces territoires en pôles d'innovation et de développement durable, en consolidant leur intégration économique au niveau national et continental. Le port Atlantique de Dakhla est notamment conçu pour le désenclavement des pays du Sahel, dans une perspective d’intégration économique régionale élargie. Contrairement aux allégations d'Alger, ces régions bénéficient d’un climat de paix et de sécurité, propice à la vie et à l’investissement. Le développement exponentiel observé résulte d’une stratégie ambitieuse, soutenue par un engagement financier massif de l’État marocain comme locomotive et par l’apport de partenaires internationaux. Depuis le lancement du Nouveau Modèle de Développement des Provinces du Sud en 2015 par Sa Majesté le Roi, plus de 8,3 milliards d’euros ont été investis dans les infrastructures, l’énergie, l’agriculture, l’industrie, le tourisme et les services sociaux. Les provinces sont ainsi devenues un pôle majeur pour la production d’énergies renouvelables, en particulier l’éolien et le solaire. En 2024, la capacité installée a atteint 1,3 GW, pour un investissement cumulé d'environ 2 milliards d’euros, représentant 21 % de la production nationale d’énergie propre. Des projets d’envergure, comme Noor Laâyoune et Noor Boujdour, d’une capacité de 100 MW, illustrent parfaitement cette orientation. Deux milliards d'euros supplémentaires sont projetés pour produire 1,6 GW de capacité future. L’innovation se manifeste aussi par l’émergence de l’hydrogène vert, avec des projets pilotes lancés en 2024 dans les régions de Guelmim-Oued Noun, Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra et Dakhla-Oued Eddahab. Les provinces du Sud disposent aussi d’importantes ressources minières, notamment en phosphates. L’Office Chérifien des Phosphates, pour 7,18 milliards de dirhams, a développé un nouveau complexe d’engrais à Laâyoune et initié un port phosphatier pour pas moins de 5,26 milliards de dirhams. L’industrie minière contribue amplement à la création d’emplois et à la diversification économique dans la région. La pêche constitue par ailleurs l’un des principaux moteurs économiques dans ces provinces, représentant près de 39 % de l’activité locale. Les industries de transformation, le développement de l’aquaculture et la valorisation des produits de la mer sont des axes d’investissement majeurs, soutenus par des ports modernes et un réseau autoroutier qui facilitent l’exportation. L’agriculture à haute valeur ajoutée, adaptée aux conditions arides, bénéficie d’investissements dans l’irrigation, le dessalement et la modernisation des exploitations. Le secteur s’est également développé grâce à la création de zones industrielles dédiées à la transformation et au stockage des produits. Des projets structurants, tels que la voie express Tiznit-Dakhla, longue de 1 055 km, réalisée en un temps record, et le port Dakhla Atlantique, qui mobilise près d’un milliard d’euros, renforcent l’intégration des provinces du Sud au marché national et africain, positionnant la région comme un hub logistique vers l’Afrique subsaharienne et comme une porte grande ouverte vers les Amériques et l’Europe. Dakhla, dans les liaisons commerciales, va donc jouer le rôle qu’était celui d’Essaouira, appelé Port de Tombouctou en son temps. Sa Majesté le Roi a vu juste, et les pays du Sahel, très pragmatiques après les changements de régime, ont adhéré à sa vision. Le tourisme balnéaire, écologique et de niche se développe de façon exponentielle, avec des investissements dans l’hôtellerie, les stations balnéaires et les circuits d’écotourisme. L’artisanat local, pour sa part, bénéficie de programmes de valorisation, participant ainsi à l’attractivité touristique. Les secteurs dits sociaux ne sont pas en reste. Des investissements majeurs sont réalisés dans la santé, à l’instar du CHU de Laâyoune, qui a mobilisé la bagatelle de 0,11 milliard d’euros ; dans l’éducation et la formation professionnelle, afin d’accompagner la croissance démographique et économique. Nombreuses sont les facultés entrées en service au profit de la jeunesse de la région. Le développement des services - banques, assurances et télécommunications - accompagne intelligemment la dynamique des autres secteurs. Les autorités locales, parfaitement inscrites dans cette logique, multiplient les partenariats public-privé pour accélérer la réalisation des projets et mutualiser les ressources. Ces initiatives favorisent la création d’emplois, l’amélioration des conditions de vie et l’autonomisation des populations locales, tout en renforçant la stabilité et l’attractivité du territoire. À titre d’exemple, l’Agence française de développement (AFD) vient d’annoncer un investissement de 150 millions d’euros pour soutenir des projets structurants et accompagner le développement régional, illustrant la nouvelle dynamique insufflée par le partenariat renforcé entre le Maroc et la France. Grâce à l’innovation, à la durabilité et à l’inclusion, le Maroc transforme donc ses provinces du Sud en moteurs de croissance, au bénéfice du pays et du continent africain tout entier. Un véritable modèle de développement intégré et résilient. Cette dynamique de développement et d’intégration des provinces du Sud suscite une vive colère de l’Algérie et du groupuscule séparatiste qu’elle sponsorise. Le Polisario, en perdition, multiplie les provocations, notamment en bloquant des convois logistiques de la MINURSO et en brandissant des menaces terroristes contre les investisseurs étrangers, dans une tentative désespérée de perturber le développement régional et d’internationaliser le conflit. L’Algérie, quant à elle, dépassée et embourbée dans un anachronisme bizarre, exprime une hostilité profonde envers le modèle marocain d’autonomie avancée. Elle le perçoit comme une menace directe à ses ambitions régionales et à sa politique de soutien au Polisario. Alger dénonce fermement les projets marocains dans les provinces du Sud, les qualifiant de coloniaux et d’illégitimes. Elle s’emploie, sans succès, à isoler le Maroc sur le plan diplomatique, mais force est de constater qu’il ne lui reste en fait comme soutien que l’Afrique, mais pour combien de temps encore ? Des voix au sein même de l’ANC demandent ardemment au gouvernement de changer de position vis-à-vis du Royaume, devenu un acteur diplomatique majeur. Malgré ces manœuvres, le Maroc, imperturbable, persiste dans sa stratégie de développement durable et inclusif, consolidant ainsi sa souveraineté et son rôle de leader régional. Ses partenaires s’appellent l’Europe, les USA, la Chine, la France, l’Espagne, la Russie et tant d'autres.
Aziz Daouda Aziz Daouda

Aziz Daouda

Directeur Technique et du Développement de la Confédération Africaine d'Athlétisme. Passionné du Maroc, passionné d'Afrique. Concerné par ce qui se passe, formulant mon point de vue quand j'en ai un. Humaniste, j'essaye de l'être, humain je veux l'être. Mon histoire est intimement liée à l'athlétisme marocain et mondial. J'ai eu le privilège de participer à la gloire de mon pays .


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Abdelwahab Doukkali, or the Nobility of a Morocco That Sings ... 47

Abdelwahab Doukkali, or the nobility of a Morocco that still sings; that has always sung and will sing forever. There are artists we admire. And then there are those we love deeply, because they end up becoming part of our own intimate memory, of ourselves simply. Abdelwahab Doukkali belonged, and will belong until the last breath, to this rarest of categories for many people among us. With his passing, Morocco loses more than a great singer. It loses a voice of civilization. A way of being Moroccan with elegance, depth, modesty, and grandeur. He had a unique way of making the modernity and the soul of this Western land that is Morocco dialogue with the so-called Arab East, without ever betraying either one. Doukkali was not just an interpreter. He was a fine architect of emotion. In him, every note seemed thoughtful, inhabited, almost meditated. He sang as one recounts a noble wound, a sincere love, a burning pain, a bittersweet nostalgia, with that restraint that characterized the great artists of his generation. Those who knew that power lies not in excess, but in mastery and sincerity. I will always keep in memory a moment of rare human intensity. One evening, almost intimately, he sang me أغار عليك (“I Am Jealous”). Few artists could give such emotional depth to this piece. He was surprised that I knew such a rarely performed work. For another, this song would have been simply beautiful. For Doukkali, it became a sentimental vertigo. He told me how, on the road back from Marrakech to Casablanca one day, he had the genius to add a word to such a beautiful poem whose potential he didn't know how to unlock. A little word added to lyrics spoken by a woman… قالت (“She said”). Thus, he gave himself the right to sing jealousy on the edge of madness; the obsession that only women hold the secret to, transforming pain into sublimated romance. His voice did not just sing the words. It gave them a second life, the Abdelwahab Doukkali life. And how can we not mention this other artistic feat, that of having sublimated مرسول الحب (“Marsoul L’hob”)? Was Tayeb Laalej aware of what his lyrics, composed in his car, would become... Many interpret, many compose, many sing. Few improve the note, the word, the melody, the emotion. Doukkali did so with that musical intelligence belonging only to the very greatest. He instinctively understood where to place the breath, where to suspend the silence, where to let the orchestra fade before pure emotion, where to place a word, sketch a smile, address the audience. That is genius. Modern Morocco owes so much to men like Abdelwahab Doukkali. A generation that carried Moroccan culture throughout the Arab world and beyond. One day, he found himself singing in French… Go ask him why he sang *Je suis jaloux* with dignity and refinement. This generation that produced cultured, elegant, rooted, and universal artists at once is almost gone… Cursed be this year that took Belkhayate and Doukkali from us… Thank you, Fès, for giving us these two and so many others… Today, listening to his songs again, we also measure what our era has lost: artistic patience, the choice of poetry and words, respect for the public, the cult of work well done. Abdelwahab Doukkali belonged to that time when Moroccan song was a work of art and not a product. His passing brings immense sadness to all who knew him, loved him, or simply listened to him one day with the heart. But great artists have this mysterious victory over death: they continue to inhabit our lives long after their departure. As long as in Morocco a voice hums أغار عليك, as long as a heartbroken lover discovers كان يا ما كان, Abdelwahab Doukkali will never truly leave this country. Madly in love with this land, he built there forever a rampart… That of fine taste with ما أنا إلا بشر (“I Am Only Human”). There goes Doukkali to rejoin friends: Tayeb Laalej, Nizar Qabbani, Abderrahim Sekkat, Ahmed Chajai, Lamghari, Abdelhay Skalli, Mohamed Fouiteh, Abdelhadi Belkhayate, Naima Samih. The others will forgive me for not naming them. In this moment of pain, it's a bit complicated. Tonight, Oum Kaltoum, Farid El Atrach, Abdelhalim Hafid, El Mouji, Baligh Hamdi, Mohamed Abdelwahab, Riad Sounbati... will welcome him. Artists of this caliber do not die. They become national memory. As good Muslims, let us simply say: “We are to God and to Him we return,” and pray. Pray for Doukkali to rest in peace. Those who pass not far from his grave will surely hear him humming this or that song they adore from him.

Ouarzazate: From Logistical Isolation to a Systemic Development Emergency 569

Tourism and film professionals in Ouarzazate have once again expressed their anger with force and clarity. This isn't the first time they've risen up like this. In contrast, citizens murmur their frustrations quietly. Even when they shout their boiling rage, their voices seem blocked by the height of the Atlas peaks. They don't reach or don't clearly reach, where they need to. Since Ouarzazate has been under the Errachidia region, authorities and elected regional bodies have focused on their own city and its immediate surroundings, relegating Ouarzazate "on the other side" to oblivion. These cries are no longer mere sectoral demands. They reveal a long-standing multidimensional structural crisis. Beyond the glaring failure of air connectivity, the most visible symptom of deep isolation, lies a fragile and incoherent territorial development model. Professionals operating in Ouarzazate tell anyone who will listen that the city's tourist and cinematic appeal is in peril. In a globalized economy, the fluidity of flows determines competitiveness. The lack of direct flights from key European and North American source markets erodes Ouarzazate's attractiveness, a local economic pillar driven by its two flagship industries: tourism and cinema. Dependence on Casablanca or Marrakech hubs breaks the value chain, while logistical unpredictability deters tour operators and international productions. Add to that, it must be said, the surprisingly weak domestic air links. This domino effect hammers the local economy. Hotels see declining occupancy, margins shrink, and recent investments lack profitability. Indirect jobs in guiding, transport, crafts, and restaurants become increasingly precarious. If tour operators bypass the destination, film productions turn to more accessible rivals. Stays shorten dramatically. Ouarzazate isn't rejected: it's circumvented, which in tourism amounts to a gradual disappearance. ### The Mining Paradox: Wealth Without Local Benefits Morocco's Southeast is rich in strategic minerals: silver, manganese, cobalt. Yet the value generated escapes the territory: - Weak local redistribution: revenues are barely reinvested in infrastructure, skilled jobs, or public services. - Enclave effect: mining sites are isolated, without economic integration. - Negative externalities: intense pressure on water resources leads to environmental degradation without compensation. - Lack of processing: exporting raw materials deprives the region of industrial value chains. Thus, the territory generates wealth without building its future, deepening a profound sense of injustice. ### Governance Challenges and Systemic Risks His Majesty King Mohammed VI has repeatedly denounced the "two-speed Morocco," highlighting serious governance failures. Yet, despite unprecedented discursive promotion, cinematic hub, gateway to the desert, Ouarzazate remains poorly integrated into a genuine unclogging strategy. Where is the coordination between transport, tourism, and territorial development? Why do intangible infrastructures (connectivity, logistics) lag behind those in other regions? Does anyone have a clear vision of Ouarzazate's role in the national economy? This glaring deficit turns huge potential into fragility. The image suffers badly: complex access for travelers, uncertainties for productions. Perception being a key asset, a silent marginalization takes hold, threatening exit from international radars: fewer tourist nights, fewer films, fewer investments, fewer jobs. A vicious circle relegates this true center of excellence to forgotten peripheries. ### Rethinking the Model: Levers for Coherent Development The challenge goes beyond the unclogging some imagine. The entire model must be rethought: - By leveraging the mining sector to fund regional development, infrastructure, and training. - By creating synergies across all sectors (mining, tourism, energy). - By ensuring equitable wealth redistribution. - By encouraging executives, especially natives or those from the region, to settle there, return, and invest. - By integrating the region into a coherent national vision. Without this, Ouarzazate will keep accumulating paradoxes: Rich in resources, poor in benefits; World-famous, locally marginalized. In the end, it's no longer just an economic and social crisis penalizing Ouarzazate and its people, but a threat to territorial cohesion and justice itself. Ouarzazate's cries aim only to raise awareness of its ignored structural crisis... Until when?

Hassan II Trophy: Fifty Years of History, Memory, and Royal Vision... 718

There are anniversaries that are more than mere numbers. They are milestones in a life, landmarks in memory. This 50th edition of the Hassan II Golf Trophy is one of them. And for me, it holds a special flavor: that of half a century of history that I have had the modest privilege of living through. I can still picture myself, young and enthusiastic, assigned by my friend Najib Salmi to cover the very first edition for *L’Opinion*. We didn't yet know we were witnessing the birth of an event destined to span decades and place Morocco on the world map of golf. At the time, the gamble seemed bold. Golf was not a popular sport in Morocco, let alone a vector for international image. But that gamble bore the mark of a vision. That of Hassan II. To put it bluntly: the Hassan II Trophy is not just a sports competition. It is the expression of a strategy. A way, for a visionary sovereign, to anticipate what modern diplomacy would become: a diplomacy of influence, image, cultural and sporting outreach. Hassan II understood, well before many others, that sport could be a universal language. A space where nations meet without rigid protocol, where elites exchange in an informal setting, and where a country's image is built with subtlety. Golf, in particular, offered that prestigious yet discreet dimension, perfectly aligned with his idea of Morocco's positioning. Golf in Morocco had its own tradition and unique flavor, which a certain Winston Churchill regularly came to savor... Over the editions, I watched this trophy grow. From a still-confidential tournament, it became a recognized stop on the international circuit. I saw champions come and go, infrastructure evolve, and organization professionalize. But more than that, I saw a royal intuition proven right, year after year. What strikes me today, looking back, is not just the event's longevity. It is its coherence. Nothing was left to chance. The choice of courses, the quality of hospitality, the attention to detail... all of it meets one demand: to make Morocco a reference. And then there is that human dimension, often overlooked in official reports. The encounters, the chats by the green, the bonds forged over the years. Najib Salmi is no longer here to share this moment, but I know he would have savored it, like me, this continuity. We had begun this adventure almost as curious onlookers; today we see it consecrated. Fifty editions later, the Hassan II Trophy is far more than a tournament. It is a legacy. That of a king whom history will surely remember as one of the greatest of the Alaouite dynasty, not only for his political acumen, but for his ability to see far, very far ahead. Today, the vision is renewed. His Majesty King Mohammed VI has revitalized the approach with vigor, and His Royal Highness Prince Moulay Rachid ensures it translates into reality in the best possible way. And I, a mere chronicler of this long span of time, today measure the privilege of having been there at the beginning... and of still being here to recount its trajectory and savor the spectacle with the pride of a fulfilled citizen living his Moroccan identity.

Moroccan Football: When Spectacle Becomes a Pretext for Confrontation... 827

There was, at the outset, a kind of almost naive optimism. By modernizing infrastructure, offering fans stadiums to international standards, professionalizing organization and hospitality, and shifting to what's now called the "fan experience," many believed Moroccan football would cross a threshold—not just sporting, but civic as well. The idea was simple: by elevating hosting conditions, public behavior would automatically improve. Recent events during FAR–Raja at the Moulay Abdallah Complex brutally contradict this hypothesis. A rude awakening that, naively, no one anticipated. What happened there is neither trivial, nor isolated, nor should it be dismissed as a mere incident. On the contrary, it's the symptom of a deeper malaise that categorically transcends the realm of football. The illusion of infrastructure as a driver of change has simply shattered. Morocco has massively invested in its sports facilities, eyeing continental and international ambitions, and of course a legacy and assets for youth and football. The Moulay Abdallah Complex, a showcase of this policy, is meant to embody this new era, with security, comfort, and organization. Yet these modern infrastructures failed to prevent scenes of violence, vandalism, and clashes. This highlights a fundamental analytical error. Social problems aren't solved by purely material responses. Stadiums aren't airtight bubbles insulated from society's tensions. They often mirror and amplify them. For some time now, they've become the venue and crucible for claims and expressions that go far beyond football. The fundamental question is to open our eyes. Are we dealing with football fans or organized groups, manipulated and spurred on as the spearhead of obscure agendas? Doesn't this echo the methods of the Open Society? It would be misleading to reduce these outbursts to mere "fan excesses." A portion of the crowd in the stands clearly isn't there for the football. In many cases, these are structured groups, mostly young, sometimes very young, who instrumentalize the sports event as a space for violent expression. They themselves are likely manipulated and victimized. The match then becomes a pretext, and the stadium a stage where power struggles unfold that have little to do with the game. Clashes with law enforcement aren't accidental. They're sought, prepared, sometimes even ritualized. Should we see manipulation at play? The question deserves to be asked without naivety. In numerous international contexts, fan movements have been infiltrated, instrumentalized, or co-opted for political, ideological, or criminal ends. Morocco isn't inherently immune to such drifts. Thinking otherwise is ingenuous. Faced with these derailments, another element stands out: the silence of certain clubs. This muteness is, at best, cowardice. At worst, implicit complicity or simply fear of confrontation. Clubs are the first affected. Their image and finances are directly hit by these behaviors. Their moral responsibility is engaged. Yet few take a clear, firm, public stance to condemn these acts and disavow these groups. Why this silence? Fear of losing part of their fan base? Inability to control groups that have become autonomous? Or calculation, viewing these radical fringes as contributors to stadium atmosphere and pressure despite everything? Whatever the reason, this stance is untenable. Clubs can't claim the benefits of popular support, enjoy colossal subsidies and investments at taxpayers' expense, while turning a blind eye to their gravest excesses. Treating them as incidents handed off to security services isn't acceptable. Clubs must speak out, express themselves, disavow, and openly condemn. FAR's leaders have just broken this silence with a statement denouncing what happened. All football clubs and their league likely need to go further. Why not join as civil parties? The image of clubs, football, and the country is severely damaged. This is also a matter of authority and societal project. At bottom, the issue transcends football. It points to a broader stake: authority, youth guidance, and meaning given to collective spaces. When youths use a match to "settle scores," it reveals deficits in integration, benchmarks, and prospects. The stadium becomes an outlet, but also a training ground for confrontation. Action is thus needed, and quickly. Youths all dressed in black eerily recall fascist movements from another era, another world. The response can't be purely securitarian, though necessary. It must be holistic: educational, social, cultural. It requires holding all actors accountable—notably, it bears repeating, parents, society, clubs, the federation, local authorities, and media. Labeling openly dangerous behaviors as "festive expressions" and broadcasting their images is reckless. It implicitly gives visibility to movements that thrive on it, demonstrating their power and attracting more followers and sympathizers. Some, naively, push crowds toward extreme behaviors through inappropriate narratives and semantics they don't master. More than ever, it's time to restore football's essence: a cultural moment of sharing, collective emotion, framed rivalry. When it becomes a battlefield, it loses its purpose. It's thus urgent to reaffirm clear lines: - Zero tolerance for organized violence - Clubs held accountable for their supporters - Professional league held accountable - Identification and sanctioning of troublemakers behind the scenes - Rebuilding a healthy bond between youth and sport. For without this, the world's finest stadiums will remain empty shells devoid of meaning, unable to contain tensions they're not meant to resolve. Moroccan football deserves better. And it's still time to right the course—if we face reality head-on, with intelligence and without complacency.