Morocco Guide

The Delphi group is a Michigan-based group specialized in electrical / electronic architecture and embedded multimedia technology, plus safety features, air conditioning and heating systems. The group employs more than 170,000 people in 36 countries all over the world, with a turnover of USD 26.4 Bn last year.

The group is present in Morocco since 1999 with a unit in Tangiers that employs a total of 4,500 people. 6 km away from this old unit, a new specialized unit in electrical and electronic systems of car industry will be established. The American car manufacturer singed with Morocco yesterday in Rabat, a memorandum of understanding to set up this USD 36Mn unit of car components production in the Tangier Free Zone. This new unit will create up to 3,000 jobs over the forthcoming three years.

Morocco has released this week, an amount of 5 million dollars to the Islamic Fund for Solidarity in Development, which was newly founded in Dakar, capital of Senegal, by the Islamic Development Bank. This money is aimed by Morocco to be a contribution in the fight against poverty in Islamic countries.

It is expected that the fund receives about 10 billion U.S. dollars, including voluntary contributions from Islamic Fund for Solidarity in Development member countries, in order to enhance solidarity among Islamic countries.

To be noted that the decision to establish the Islamic Fund for Solidarity in Development was taken during the extraordinary summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference which was held in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in December 2005. 

Qatari Diar, a leading state-backed real statement development company, recently announced the launch of its Al Houara Resort, a luxury resort project to be developed in Tangier, Morocco.

Al Houara resort will mainly contain two 5-star hotels, a 4-star hotels, residences, beach apartments, forest villas, with all the supporting facilities.

The $600m resort will attract tourists from Europe, The Middle East and North Africa; and will reflect the cooperation between the two countries: Morocco and Qatar.

The project’s completion date is estimated around June 2009.

Perched at the top of the African mainland, Morocco offers a vibrant mix of cultures and experiences that make it a land of contrasts. The first image that one may conjure up when asked to think of Morocco would perchance be one of sun-baked dusty houses set against a desert backdrop. The vision may even feature Bedouin nomads leading camels, or a busy market bazaar with tourists and merchants bartering good-naturedly. Read More

Dear All Fascinated by North Africa,

Please let me introduce the Fes-Portal, website of the city of Fes.

Fez or Fes (arab. فاس, fr. Fès) – third of the the biggest cities in Marocco, with almost 950 000 population. The ancient capitol of Maurs country and of Marocco founded by Idris II in 807. After French occupation in 1912 the capitol was moved to Rabat. Nowadays Fez becomes the centre of Moroccan economy and tourism as well as the religion with rich heritage of religious architecture: mosque Karaouiyne, Andalousian mosque from IX century and numerous mosques from XIV and XVI centuries. The city is still walled by the old curtains. In 1981 medina – the traditional district of arrabian cities - in Fez was registered on the Unesco world cultural heritage list. In 2001 a botanical garden was opened in Fez.

With Fes-Portal you can learn about the history and culture of the city, special event venues, tips to visit Fes. Fes-Portal closely cooperates with the accommodation specialist in this area of Africa - Riad Selection. Both, they present the authentic character of the city.

Royal Air Maroc, the Moroccan airlines company, has closed its prayer rooms and prevented its employees from going to the mosque during work hours.

The company stated that there was no official ban concerning prayers, but that it had to do something about the long breaks employees take in order to pray.

Praying five times a day is a crucial part of the Islamic religion, and the RAM’s unofficial ban raised a lot of controversy. Even if Islam is the predominant religion of Morocco, that does not justify taking long breaks from work to pray, knowing that the average period of time needed for every prayer is less than 10 minutes.

Some consider this ban as being political, and a move to cut down Islamist extremism, referring to some events that took place previously; and some consider it an offence to their religious freedom. Other complaints that were made against this company were about pilots and stewards who were not allowed to fast in Ramadan, and female staff who were not allowed to wear the veil.

Moroccan transport minister Karim Ghellab denied that the government has banned prayer times for employees at the RAM, and that they have only been asked to pray in their offices.

RAM employees said that prayer rooms were closed, and will be opened only on Fridays.

One thing that Moroccan cuisine is definitely known by is spices and the magical flavor they add to Moroccan dishes. Spices’ secrets are transmitted from one generation to another. And each ‘cook’ uses their own mix of spices to render their dishes unique.

Of a great diversity, the rich colored set of spices used in Moroccan dishes is all natural, considering their historic origin, from trades with Arabia. As it’s very well said, spices are not used in Morocco to mask the flavor of food, but to enhance it.

Spices are abundant in Morocco, and easily found in local markets –souks- at some shops that sell only spices of all kinds. Just specify for what kind of dishes you want spices exactly and the spices merchant will show you all the varieties and mixtures that are used in Moroccan cuisine. Ras el hanoot [literally “head of the shop”] is for instance a famous complex mixture of up to twenty seven spices, if not more, which makes it quite an expensive spice in comparison with others.

Saffron is another expensive spice. It is usually sold in small plastic containers or airtight bags. Saffron is used also for its colorant effect. Curcuma is otherwise less expensive than saffron and is often used to replace it. Cumin is added to almost every dish, from meats to lamb to chicken; it’s one of the most flavorful spices. Cinnamon that is used for pastilles, couscous sometimes and many desserts among other dishes can be found in powder or stick form. Ginger is traditionally used in its powder form and it is often mixed with saffron in meat dishes. And the list goes on.

Morocco isn’t considered the culinary star of North Africa for nothing. All the savory food is a treasure that one has to discover while visiting Morocco.

The ADSL was launched in Morocco in November 2003, and since then to the end of June 2006, the number of subscribers grew by 300%, with 97% during the second quarter of 2006 alone.

Despite this large growth rate in Internet subscription and in particular ADSL subscriptions in Morocco, the telecom service is estimated to be used by a small minority, and Internet penetration in Morocco is still very low by absolute and relative standards.

The new report, ‘Morocco Internet and Datacomm Landscape’ recently released to the Arab Advisors Group’s Telecoms Strategic Research Service subscribers, provides, in 54 pages, a detailed analysis of the Moroccan Internet markets, operational Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the country and related information.

The report includes 5-year historical and 5-year projections on Internet uptake and revenues. The report provides, moreover, a detailed and comprehensive picture on the Internet market strategies and regulations, e-commerce, and online content and services landscape, according to the publishers.

The report mentioned in its historical part, the fact that the first Internet connection was established in Morocco by Maroc Télécom in 1995. Later on, and exactly between 1997 and 2000, there were many a creation of ISPs.

Presently, there are 10,051 holders of Internet declarations in the country, with the vast majority for Internet cafés and four broadband providing ISPs, namely: Maroc Télécom, Maroc Connect, Morocco Trade and Development Services SA (MTDS) and Maghreb Net.

The report stated in its 5 year projection part, that the Moroccan Internet market will keep on growing in the few coming years, between 2006 to 2010, especially with the upcoming infrastructure-based competition of multiple fixed operators and lower Internet bandwidth costs.

On Riad-Selection we are discovering Morocco, today we are going to discover the luxurius Riad in Marrakech : Riad Monika.

Here a picture of the central Swimming Pool.

What the website of the Riad says :

Let us welcome you to Riad Monika Saint Ay in the heart of the Marrakech Medina. The Riad, finely and elegantly decorated has been renovated in ancient Moroccan architectural style resembling the luxurious Antan Palace.
The Riad is built around 2 large patios, one of which includes a large basin and the other a swimming pool. Around these you will find on the ground floor a guest room, lounge hall, dining room and a small reception hall.

The available Services for this Riad in Marrakech are :

Airport reception, Shuttle service, Riad presentation, mint tea and Moroccan pastry, fresh drinks. On demand, massage with essential oils, gym with personal trainer, hairdresser, Internet access, television in guest-rooms.

So a few Interesting links for this Riad in Marrakech :

• Book Page of the Riad Monika
  
• A page of Riad Monika

If you want us to write an article about your structure or any other structure in Morocco, just write us.

Nothing to do with Monaco. It’s not a forgotten part somewhere in Asia! And it’s not just another country in Africa!

The Kingdom of Morocco is a North African country that has a strategic geopolitical position; it’s exactly on the northwest of Africa, on both the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
The Moroccan population is over 30 millions, and Morocco is considered as the 4th populated Arabic country after Egypt, Sudan and Algeria.

Being very close to Europe, Morocco has been heavily influenced by it; besides the geographic distance, its history witnesses more than just distant influence. Despite all that, this kingdom by the sea kept all its traditions and culture, which makes it a different country than any typical Arabic Muslim country. It makes it too different that some other Arabs can’t even understand its dialect – Moroccan darija – that’s influenced by Europe - French and Spanish languages- and its own mixture of cultures, mainly Berber.

Morocco is a constitutional monarchy, and its king is Mohamed VI.  The capital is Rabat, not Casablanca as some may think. The latter is the economic capital of the country, and its largest city.
Other well known cities of Morocco are: Agadir, Essaouira, Fèz, Marrakech, Tangiers, etc…

Morocco’s languages are: Arabic – the official language -, Berber, and French. Its currency is dirham. The dominant religion is Islam, with a minority of Christians and Jews.
Morocco’s main industry is mining phosphates, and its main sector of activity is tourism.

Moroccan culture is among the richest. There are various styles of music: andalousi, chaabi, Berber with all its types. The cuisine is awesomely delicious, with an extensive use of spices. The most known dishes are: couscous, tajine, pastilla and harira. The popular Moroccan drink is mint tea.