Morocco: $90M for Business-Driven Training Centers

The Millennium Challenge Corporation, a US government agency with a mission to reduce poverty through economic growth, has signed a $450 million Compact with the Government of Morocco that is focused on supporting two barriers to economic growth: education and land productivity. As part of the program, the Millennium Challenge Account – Morocco, the entity designated by the Government of Morocco to implement the program, will soon be launching a large-scale grant fund to support technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programs in Morocco. The Fund – named the Charaka Fund - will finance creation of new TVET centers or expansion of existing TVET centers that are operated as Public-Private Partnerships, and demonstrate a clear responsiveness to the needs of the private sector. The grant facility, named Fonds Charaka (the Fund), was designed in response to a recognition that training centers in Morocco which are driven by the private sector better meet the needs of both employers and graduates.

They also achieve much higher post-graduate employment rates, largely because the skills for which they provide training are more responsive to the needs of the private sector. With a secondary education graduation rate of less than 40% and youth unemployment above 20%, MCC and the Government of Morocco have jointly recognized the importance of improving job opportunities for youth. At the same time, private sector industry is growing rapidly in Morocco, and firms are eagerly seeking a more qualified local workforce. The Charaka Fund aims to close the gap between the demand and supply of relevant skills by granting over $90 million through a competitive grant process for proposals to build new technical and vocational education and training (TVET) centers and/or expand existing ones that offer private-sector driven training models.

The Model The Charaka Fund aims to have a strategic impact on the technical education and training system in Morocco by creating stronger collaboration between the private sector and public training centers. Applications to the Charaka Fund are expected to be submitted by private sector associations that have identified a need for a more skilled workforce, in close collaboration with a relevant public sector entity in Morocco. The call for proposals will be launched on the Millennium Challenge Account-Morocco (MCA-Morocco) website on May 29th. MCC also invites you to join the official launch event in Casablanca on June 14th, and additional info sessions throughout Morocco in the following weeks.

The official launch and subsequent information sessions will be organized by MCA-Morocco. Please RSVP for this MCC Washington DC event on June 1, 2017 by May 30th on the link provided above. To learn more about the fund, please visit the MCA-Morocco website (in French) http://mca-maroc.ma/appel-partenariat