Mobilising investments of around 2 billion dirhams, this project, which comes to support the implementation of the integrated industrial complex project for fertiliser production in Phosboucraâ, is intended to support the economic development of the Southern regions by responding to the specificities of the territory. It reflects H.M. the King's desire to ensure sustainable and integrated development for the Southern regions, by encouraging investment and private initiative, by strengthening the skills and potential of young people, and by promoting the protection and enhancement of local heritage.
Located 18 km from the city of Laâyoune, the future technopole will include an Education and Research Hub focused on themes related to the Saharan environment, a Hub for supporting the economic development of the Southern regions, a Cultural Hub, as well as social infrastructure. The Foum El Oued-Laâyoune technopole will offer numerous benefits, notably in terms of job creation and investment. It is expected to mobilise nearly 1.8 million man-days during the construction phase and should create 1,200 permanent jobs by 2022. This technopole will house, under the first phase (655 million DH), the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University of Laâyoune, a Lycée of Excellence, and an Industrial Skills Centre. With a capacity of 360 students for the Lycée and 200 for the preparatory classes for the Grandes Écoles, the Lycée of Excellence should contribute to strengthening the offer of excellent training in the Southern regions and to promoting social diversity and merit. A nursery for talent, this Lycée of Excellence (3 ha) will include residences (student boarding school and staff housing), a restaurant, a library, medico-technical spaces, administrative premises, as well as sports facilities (multi-sports hall, semi-Olympic swimming pool, athletics track).
The Industrial Skills Centre is intended, for its part, to train factory and control room operators, exploitation supervisors, maintenance operators, industrial maintenance supervisors, and senior executives. The training provided will revolve around different fields: mechanical engineering and welding, electrical and electronic engineering, industrial process engineering, and mining and energy operations. The Laâyoune Industrial Skills Centre (7 ha) will support the development of the OCP Group's new industrial units and support the innovation and industrial and technological development initiatives of Phosboucraâ, its ecosystem, and the Group's African partners.
On this occasion, His Majesty King Mohammed VI laid the foundation stone for the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University of Laâyoune. A reference educational institution, this university (550 million DH) will meet the needs for higher education and academic research in the region and will be oriented towards research, innovation, and training in scientific and technical fields related to arid and Saharan zones. It will include classrooms, lecture halls, two student residences, a university restaurant, a sports area, a research and development centre including laboratories and a research unit, an experimental farm, and a conference centre. The University has chosen to develop research and development programmes around strategic sectors (agriculture, water, energy), allowing it to establish itself as a reference institution and to radiate across the national territory and the sub-Saharan neighbourhood. With a capacity of 2,500 student-researchers, this university aims to forge research and development partnerships with national and international institutions that will allow it to deploy as an innovative academic resource centre.
