Morocco’s Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication launched, on Monday at the International University of Rabat (UIR), the “Video Game Creator” training program which will benefit 40 young Moroccans.
Organized in collaboration with the French Embassy in Morocco, the program is part of the implementation of the Declaration of Intent signed between the two countries last October, under the aegis of HM King Mohammed VI and French President Emmanuel Macron, to support and structure the ecosystem of the cultural and creative video game industry.
The training program, which runs for nine months (January 6-October 3, 2025), aims to strengthen the professional and managerial skills of young Moroccans in order to foster the development of the gaming industry in Morocco and consolidate the Kingdom’s position as a key player in the field.
Young Moroccans will have their full tuition fees covered through partnerships to help reduce social and territorial disparities. Additionally, they will be offered employment opportunities and accommodation solutions.
On this occasion, the Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, emphasized that Video Game Creator exemplifies the potential offered by prestigious collaborations between institutional and academic partners from both sides of the Mediterranean. “This program is poised to become a benchmark for the excellence that Euro-African cooperation can achieve,” he said.
Highlighting the significance of the gaming sector and its potential for creating skilled, high-value employment opportunities, Bensaid emphasized that the Video Game Creator program offers a pathway to reversing the brain drain. “Gaming is an art of storytelling,” he added, “and it draws upon our cultures, our imaginations, and our memories.”
“We are now in a position to produce a high-quality African cultural and creative industry, which can confidently compete on the global market and export its excellence in turn,” he underlined.
Karin Houpillart, co-founder and co-director of the ISART Digital school, specialized in videogame industry, stressed that thanks to Morocco’s promising talent and exceptional cultural, historical and artistic wealth, has a “unique opportunity to become a key player in the video game industry, not only on an African scale, but also on the international scene.”
This training program is part of a larger-scale project with a structured and sustainable ecosystem, capable of attracting studios from all over the world as well as investors, and generating new professional and economic opportunities for Moroccan talent, she explained.
The Video Game Creator Program is being carried out in partnership with three institutions: ISART DIGITAL, the world’s second-best school for electronic game development, in charge of training with its academic team; UIR, which will host the training cycle; and the Institut Supérieur des Métiers de l’Audiovisuel et du Cinéma, which will provide the necessary logistical resources.
MAP: 06 January 2025
