During the second edition of African Digital Summit held in Casablanca last week, Azzedine Mountassir Billah, director general of Morocco’s Autorité Nationale de Régulation des Télécommunications - ARNT - (National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority) encouraged government and companies to invest more in the development of services and content in Morocco, in order to avoid exhaustion of ICT sector.

The head of the institution backed his statement saying ICT in Morocco so far has been focusing its growth on voice. He emphasized that, to maintain this growth, considering the current data-directed environment, it was necessary to develop new products: services and content. Presently, Morocco’s “sole achievement regarding digital services is the offshoring boom which represents 8 billion dirhams of the country’s turnover”, ARNT’s boss said.

He foresees that developing content and assets would make the national ICT sector more dynamic. However, to trigger creative boom in this industry, Azzedine Mountassir Billah advised that government should establish an appropriate fiscal frame which will favor start-ups, improve training of youth, allow for the implementation of various export strategies for ICT products, and help implement other supporting measures just like it has been done in the automobile and aeronautics industries.