The National Entrepreneurial Camp Final Report 2013

National Entrepreneurial Camp Report 2013 - Page 1

Our Vision

To develop a generation of job creators, not job seekers.

Our Mission

To find the entrepreneur in our students through exposure to a revolutionary process: the process of problem identifi-

cation, problem solving, and idea implementation.


General Information

The context

The unemployment rate in Morocco currently stands at around 9%. While this figure is seen by many citizens as down played, a bottom line reality is agreed upon: the government needs to create more than 300,000 jobs a year if it wants to contain the pressure. With its current capacity of 50,000 positions a year, the government is significantly below target. The gravity of the situation is also exacerbated by the fact that the state has been the most attractive employer for decades, which automatically forces the government today to create artificial inorganic state positions under a severe budget crisis in order to appease the increasingly violent protestors. The implications of unemployment on peace in Morocco and in the region are no stretch to the mind. With a highly young population and a high unemployment rate, the danger of instability becomes imminent, not only to the immediate political institutions but also to national, and even arguably to international security. As social entrepreneur Soraya Salti articulated it, “those who are unemployed and directionless, often fall prey to fundamentalists and can, down the line, become a threat to national security.” What are, then, the

underlying causes of this unemployment issue?


The Gap

Our diagnosis of the issue is two-fold; on one hand it is an issue of perception: the government, which has been the most attractive employer so far, can no longer keep up with the number of people entering the job market every year. Yet, the youth’s expectations about their careers are still lagging behind this reality, and thus they are still demanding government jobs. On the other hand it is an issue of skills: there is a mismatch between the education the system provides and the skills needed under the new circumstances. This means that even if university graduates shift their focus from the public sector, their skills might not be conducive to the needs of the current day market, which requires a mindset of independence and

entrepreneurialism. Solution?

The National Entrepreneurial Camp

The National Entrepreneurial Camp is a summer camp that aims to introduce the concept of entrepreneurship to students between the ages of 15 and 20, and train them on the fundamental skills of starting their own enterprises. This summer, the second edition of The Camp took place in Benguerir from June 30th to July 8th, and gathered 30 young

students from all around the country.


Key Statistics


Regions Represented


This summer, we had once again the opportunity to embark on a journey of fun, innovation and learning with the second edition of the National Entrepreneurial Camp. As usual, our commitment to local development was reflected in our location of choice: Benguerir. While extremely hot in the summer, this emerging city offered a perfect venue for observation and reflection on entrepreneurial opportunities and challenges. Starting on June 30th, this ‘obscure’ city became home for 30 students representing 12 regions from around Morocco.

In the spirit of progression and constant self-improvement, our program this year witnessed significant bar-raising across the board. First, an entire day was

added to the program and fully dedicated to idea

development; a glossy

preliminary idea was no longer enough for our participants to impress, they needed to dig deeper and answer the hard questions of finance, operations and marketing in excruciating detail. Additionally, the program

was embedded with more local case studies, more challenging simulations and more room for discussion: the quest was to bring entrepreneurship home!

“The NEC was more to me than just a life chang-ing camp, it is my new family and the beginning of my new life.” NEC participant

The National Entrepreneurial Camp


Camp Highlights:

Tuesday Market: At NEC, we believe that one of the most fundamental skills an entrepreneur should possess is the art of observation; one’s ability to scan the environment and identify opportunities for intervention. For the past three years, we’ve been stimulating this skill in our participants through field visits, which has been greatly welcomed by all the cohorts. This year’s visit, however, was on a different level altogether. As the day coincided

with the Tuesday Market, participants were

able to interact with a wide

range of city

dwellers and merchants, interview different stand owners and scan one of the biggest open markets in the entire country. While our goal was to instill in our campers the habit of walking in other people’s moccasins, what we didn’t expect is to see some of them break in tears as they interviewed local people, and get actively engaged in brainstorming solutions for the different needs identified. Knowing that we’ve sent them to an open market under a 40-degrees blazing sun, we are still in disbelief that this trip turned out to be one of their biggest highlights for the week.


The Talent Show:

A couple of nights before the competition day, and as a form of entertainment, we decided to organize a talent show. To be fair, this basically meant installing the sound equipment in open air at “Dar Sadaqa”, and letting improvisation run the show. However, our young entrepreneurs wouldn’t settle for anything less than brilliant; our pool of talents included plays, rap songs, folk songs, all

the way to spoken word and poetry. And

our guest band from Rhamna Skills Center was very generous with our long demand list. After sharing all our talents, there was no better way to wrap up the day than with some pop and house music for our candidates to dance all the stress off before the National Entrepreneurial Challenge.


The National Entrepreneurial Challenge:

When the long-awaited moment of the final challenge arrived, our candidates came ready in full business attire to pitch and impress. After a full week of developing their ideas, July 7th was their opportunity to culminate the camp’s learning into a single three-minute pitch. The jury combined profiles ranging from social entrepreneurship to finance:

Marouane El Moutawakil: Founder of Fikra.

ma and social entrepreneur.

Hamza El Fassiki: Researcher on Social Entrepreneurship and author of the book: ‘The Cultural Identity of Entrepreneurship: When Collectivism Rules’.Jamal Touissi: Entrepreneur and executive director at MCISE.Anas Younsi Dahbi: Auditor at KPMG, coach on finance and project management.Redouane Chakir: Finance journalist, and coach on ethical leadership.This day, which would not have been possible without the support of our partner Rhamna Skills Center, was culminated with the announcement of the top three winners.


The Winners of the National Entrepreneurial Challenge: 1st Prize: Ali Senhaji for his project “9chawech”, an enterprise that produces 100% Moroccan-made toys.

2nd Prize: Ibrahim Ait Bouhou for his pedagogical farm, which aims to promote environmental education in Ouarzazate.

3rd Prize: Issam Eddine Abail

for his concept “Matrouz”, an enterprise that makes customized t-Shirts in Morocco.

Additionally, the prize “Jury’s Favorite” was given to Nada Wardi for her project “Carrefour-Drive” that helps people shop much more easily. And in the tradition of honoring our active participants, NEC committee selected Nada Wardi and Adnane Baiz as deserving recipients of the “Most Active Participant” awards.


Areas for reflection:

In recognition of the vast disparity in quality of education and access to opportunity between different areas in the kingdom, NEC has always put

geographic representation as an important criterion in our

selection process: we want the National

Entrepreneurial Camp to be a true reflection of our national diversity. On the gender front, we’ve always had strong applications from females around the country, and gender balance has always been a natural outcome of our objective, blind admission process. This year’s outcome, however, demands a stop for reflection: our NEC 2013 class had 22 boys and 8 girls, which was not the ideal composition for a well-balanced group. What this means for future editions? This means the need to go back to the blackboard and grapple with questions on our selection process, and how it fits in our broader theory of change.

“I spent a wonderful and unforgettable week! Thanks to NEC, I have developed my skills, learned more about entrepreneurship, and especially met brilliant people from all over Morocco.” NEC participant.


Sample Day in NEC:

7:30 -8:30 → Breakfast 8:30- 9 :00 → Ice breaker9:00-10:30 → « Knowing yourself» by Ismail Chaouf10:30-11:00 → Pause-Café11:00-11:30 → Reflection11:30-12:30 → Case study on Elhadj Miloud Chaabi 12:30-14:00 → Lunch14:00-15:00 → Workshop : what is entrepreneurship ?15:00-16:00 → House of Cards16:00-16:30 → Pause-café16:30-18:00 → Guest speaker: Marouane El Moutawakil18:00-19:00 → Free time19:00-20:00 → Personal coaching20:00-21:00 → Dinner21:00-22:00 → Entertainment22-00-22:10 → Curfew


Important Links:

Website:www.national-entrepreneurial-camp.com

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/National.Entrepreneurial.Challenge

Our Email:

[email protected]

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NEC_Maroc


Special Thanks to:Our Official Partner:

and supporters...

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Written by:

Jihad HajjoujiZakaria Sebaitre

Kenza BouhajAli Senhaji

Date post:	16-Mar-2016
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The National Entrepreneurial Camp Final Report 2013

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