Morocco’s Economy and Finance Minister Nadia Fettah Alaoui said Saturday that African countries must rethink their economic models to fully leverage innovation and technology, noting that many economies on the continent still rely heavily on natural resources.
Speaking on her behalf at the opening of the 58th session of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development—organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in Tangier—the minister said Africa stands at a “decisive turning point” in its development path.
She described innovation as a key driver of growth and called on African countries to seize opportunities offered by advanced technologies and data. Achieving a shared vision of an innovative Africa requires a collective approach, she said, including pooling investments, sharing resources, promoting skills exchange, coordinating regulatory frameworks and building larger, more integrated markets capable of producing globally competitive players.
The minister emphasized that African countries can build more prosperous, inclusive and resilient economies by aligning efforts, investing in youth and strengthening cooperation across the continent.
She added that the ongoing technological transformation has had a profound impact on economies, production systems and macroeconomic balances, while also reshaping societies, including work patterns, consumption habits and communication, particularly with the expansion of e-commerce and digital knowledge.
At the same time, these transformations offer unprecedented opportunities for sustainable and inclusive development, as well as job creation across the continent, she said.
Highlighting Morocco’s experience, Fettah Alaoui said the country has made innovation a strategic pillar of its development model under the leadership of King Mohammed VI.
“Digital transformation is not an option, but a necessity,” she said, pointing to the launch of the “Digital Morocco 2030” strategy as a roadmap to accelerate digitalization and position the country as a regional technology hub.
The strategy focuses on expanding high-speed digital infrastructure, digitizing public services, strengthening digital skills among youth, and supporting innovation and startups. It also aims to attract investment in advanced technologies, develop offshore services, and ensure greater digital sovereignty and inclusion.
Morocco reaffirmed its commitment to supporting initiatives that promote innovation-driven growth across Africa.
The conference, hosted in Tangier through April 3, is held under the theme “Growth through innovation: leveraging data and advanced technologies to drive Africa’s economic transformation,” with participation from ministers and experts representing countries across the continent.
Rephrase in a different way as if you were a native American speaker as a content creation expert and do not talk about yourself or your experience in the text and do not show yourself as an artificial intelligence who wrote and fill the bullet point in the topic and speak the heart of the topic itself and dont take date of blog in ther first and dont take text like box of newsliter subscribe on post from content and romove all linke insert in content and and remove all affiliate disclosure phrases on content like this “This post may contain Amazon or other affiliate links that allow us to earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Please see our Disclosure Policy for more info” and “#” put in its place bullet point, and romove name of the web site or his links we are take a content from our new creation
