Sustainable development of water resouces holds the key to unlocking the potential for tourism and agriculture.

The southern provinces of Morocco are rich in resources, but private investment in the area has long lagged behind that of the kingdom’s more prosperous north. This situation is changing, thanks to the work of the Agence pour la promotion et le développement économique et social des provinces du sud du royaume, or Agence du Sud.

Established by King Mohammed VI in 2002, the Agence du Sud was formed to create development strategies, coordinate the work of government departments and pioneer new approaches to economic development in the expansive and arid southern provinces. Encompassing 58% of Morocco’s land area but only 2% of its population, building up the southern provinces has presented a different set of challenges. “In the north, there were large infrastructure needs. The south didn’t have as great an infrastructure problem, but there was a deficit in terms of private investment,” explains Director General Hajji Ahmed of the Agence du Sud.

Hajji Ahmed Director General of the Agence du Sud

Traditional life in the arid Saharan landscape of the southern provinces is centered around oases, small agricultural communities, and fishing villages. The Agence du Sud is using these nodes to consolidate new development and encourage economic expansion, employing the artisanal skills of the population as a base for economic growth. The integrated development of ten new fishing villages is bringing social housing, support services and new infrastructure to a growing network of communities along the coast. Mr. Ahmed says that the thousands of fishing boats that operate from the southern coast demonstrate the potential of the fishing industry to offer employment opportunities. “It has been a disorganized, somewhat informal activity, but our goal is to develop villages that can serve as models and stimulate the formal economy in terms of new jobs and private investment in the region.”

The sustainable development of water resources is key to unlocking the potential for tourism and agriculture in the southern provinces, and the Agence du Sud has invested $104 million in water and environment projects in its 2004-2008 capital program. While the traditional agriculture practiced around inland oases is no longer sufficient to supply a growing urban population, the chance to visit it offers a unique ecotourism experience that will diversify the economy of older communities. The Guelmim-Es-Samara province represents the south’s best opportunity for increased agricultural productivity, which has been enhanced by $18 million invested by the Agence du Sud in eight irrigation projects.

Over 70% of the population of the southern provinces is urbanized, and many residents are former nomads adapting to life in the cities. In Laâyoune, the largest city in the south, the Agence du Sud is coordinating the efforts of different ministries to create almost 20,000 serviced building lots, which can accommodate 50-60,000 units of new housing. A part of the $650-million housing program covering the whole of the south, these lots will help eliminate poor housing conditions in the Al-Wahda camp on the outskirts of Laâyoune. In April 2008, Minister of the Interior Chakib Benmoussa and Minister of Housing, Urban Development and Spatial Planning Ahmed Toufiq Hjira launched the operation to distribute the first lots to the Al-Wahda camp residents and other needy families. In Laâyoune and other cities such as Dhakla, new housing, airports, seaports and water infrastructure is building the foundation to support private investment, according to Hajji Ahmed of the Agence du Sud. In his view, “it’s not enough to just say ‘private investment’ and wait for investors to show up. We have to create the right conditions.”