Category Archives: Morocco

Mobile Phones in Morocco

Posted on December 9, 2013 by | 4 comments

Morocco Cell Phone

New studies show that with a population of 32 million, Morocco as 36.55 million mobile phone users. Despite the statistics showing a 100% penetration rate, that number is impossible. Many citizens in rural areas have no means to use or acquire a cell phone, and there are many Moroccans who are either too young or too old to need a mobile device, let alone operate one. The answer to this intriguingly high number; the high use of pre paid sim cards on multiple networks make its very hard to track when a device becomes inactive and the user switches to another. This leads to the appearance of singular customers operating multiple devices.

Still, these numbers are incredibly impressive considering Morocco only recently joined the mobile phone boom. Despite having only relatively recently been exposed to mobile phone use, Moroccans seems to have skipped over television and radio in favor of mobile news; so much in fact, that in Morocco, mobile phone users account for 81% of all internet users. Experts project that the mobile phone boom will only continue in Morocco, leading to a stronger emphasis of mobile news through Northern Africa.

Source:

http://riadzany.blogspot.com/2012/01/morocco-mobile-phone-mania.html

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Posted in Media Access, Morocco

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Egypt and Morocco among Top 5 Tweeting Nations in Africa

Posted on December 7, 2013 by | 12 comments

How Africa Tweets

In a recent study done by the blog Portland, Egypt and Morocco ranked 4th and 5th, respectively, in Africa for number of twitter users. Egypt tallied 1,214,000 tweeters, while Morocco recorded 745,000. In all of Africa, 68% of people said they used twitter primarily to monitor news and events in their region. In contrast to much of the West, however, most of those who use twitter in Africa are in their twenties. This highlights the overriding youth moment in media technology that is sweeping across much of Northern Africa.

As social media becomes a bigger and bigger platform for dialogue to take place, young adults throughout Northern Africa are using there mobile phones as a way to communicate with the rest of the world. Adding to this young average age is the surprising discovery only a very small percent of public figures in North Africa use twitter. Those who do, however, have attracted very large followings, as the activists of North Africa hope to begin to use twitter as a means to engage in dialogue with their regions most influential leaders. As twitter has begun to play a larger and larger role in the liberation of Egypt and other North African countries, Africans are beginning to flock by the masses to the social media network as a means to more closely connect the people of Africa and to eventually progress the continent further into the digital age.

Sources:

http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2012/02/25246/morocco-5th-most-active-twitter-user-in-africa/

http://www.portland-communications.com/publications/the-quarterly-issue-6/how-africa-tweets/

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Posted in Egypt, Media Access, Morocco

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A Decade for Education: Raising literacy rates in Morocco

Posted on December 3, 2013 by | 10 comments

Literacy Reform
In the late months of 1999, the Moroccan government came face to face with a huge problem; its nation’s education system had reached an all time high in gender disparity, and dropout rates. This, combined to a severe lack of leadership, had lead to increased exodus of skilled workers, and threatened to bring the Moroccan market to its knees, and as 1999 came to a close, action was more necessary than ever. The government responded by launching possibly its most successful enterprise to date, the “decade for education.” From 2000 to 2009, education was established as a national priority; equity was established, investments were made, and educational infrastructure was rebuilt.

Thirteen years later, Morocco’s education system is as successful as ever. Enrollment rates have almost doubled, and the gender gap has been narrowed to just 3.5 percent. In the last year alone, more than 735,000 Moroccans have benefited from literacy and education programs established during the Decade of Education, a record in Moroccan history.  In fact, Morocco’s reforms have been so successful that last year UNESCO awarded Morocco honorable mention for the 2012 UNESCO Confucius Prize, given to nations who show outstanding improvement in advancing literacy rates.

The Education reforms have centered on rebuilding the infrastructure of Morocco’s education system, and allowing for greater access, especially at the lowest levels. Between 10,000 and 40,000 teachers were trained every year and several NGOs were instructed in project management. The Moroccan government closely monitored these trainings, maintaining a solid standard throughout the country. The result, a rise in primary education rates from 52.4% to 98.2%.

Recently, World Bank lent its hand toward continuing the progress made in Morocco, offering a $100 million loan to support the policies of the education reform. After receiving a report from its Sector Team, World Bank has decided to deliver yet another $100 million finance to Morocco in efforts to finish the job that has been started.

Sources:

http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2013/09/11/maintaining-momentum-on-education-reform-in-morocco

http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/features/2013/01/08/feature-04

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Posted in Media Access, Morocco

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