What policy design for innovation & entrepreneurship ecosystems in Morocco?
New Work Lab, Casablanca
Over the past few years, Morocco witnessed the creation of new types of companies, led by young, ambitious entrepreneurs who believed they would transform problems into opportunities. As the number of these startups steadily increased, startup-oriented initiatives emerged, creating a supportive and favorable environment for their growth.
Whether they are International organizations’ local branches, private sector initiatives, co-working spaces, or other incubators and funds, today, a startup owner based in Casablanca or Rabat can find supportive organizations to be incubated in an early stage, attend numerous entrepreneurship-related events, participate in competitions, receive mentorship and find a place to work at low cost.
Over the past decade, Morocco has implemented also a series of reforms to modernize its private sector and attract foreign investors, which enhanced the country's international market competitiveness. Compared to its direct neighbors, Morocco benefits from a very good business reputation. However, challenges remain in terms of aversion to risk, heavy bureaucracy, limited investment capacity and skilled labor force scarcity.
This being said, fostering a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem in Morocco is not an option but a necessity. By 2020, the country will need to generate 1.4 million new jobs for the vast majority of unemployed youth, and enterprises can play a leading role in creating these new employment opportunities.
As a venture capitalist, co-founder and Managing Director of T2 Venture Capital, a seed and early stage venture fund, Greg Horowitt will share his insights on how to foster a thriving ecosystem based on his bestselling book, ‘the Rainforest: the Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley’ which examines the dynamics and drivers of innovation ecosystems; drawn from hands-on experience and insights gathered while architecting the innovation ecosystems of more than a dozen countries around the world.
Most importantly, a discussion with young Moroccan entrepreneurs and startuppers will follow on the importance of innovation ecosystems and policy designing for the entrepreneurial environment to thrive in Morocco. The conversation will happen at The New Work Lab, a coworking space that has become the venue of the startup community in Casablanca and is playing a major role in the Moroccan startup scene.
Program
| 18:45 |
Welcoming Remarks |
| 19:00 – 19:30 |
Presentation: What policy design for innovation & entrepreneurship ecosystems in Morocco? Greg Horowitt, Co-author, The Rainforest, the Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley |
| 19:30 – 20:30 |
Debate Moderated by: Fatim Zahra Biaz, Founder, New Work Lab, Entrepreneur, Startup Advisor |
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Gregory Scott Horowitt
Founding Partner and Managing Director, T2 Venture Capital.
Gregory Scott Horowitt is the co-founder and managing director of T2 Venture Creation, a multi-disciplinary venture capital fund and ecosystem advisory firm focused on building high impact technology and healthcare enterprises. He is an advisor and consultant to many of the world’s top development organizations, including the Aspen Institute, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, U.S. Department of State, and National Academies of Science, as well as CORFO (Chile), iNNpulsa (Colombia), Skoltech (Russia), and Ruta N (Medellin). Horowitt is also the co-founder of Global CONNECT, an innovation and ecosystem think tank based at the University of California, San Diego, that helped create the early frameworks around innovation ecosystems. Prior to CONNECT, Horowitt’s life was as an entrepreneur and investor, having been involved with a number of Silicon Valley startups and venture capital, including serving as an entrepreneur-in-residence for SK Global, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm.