Morocco Calling !

Mumbai, 31 March 2017 #IBMCSC  #CSCMorocc10

Am at Mumbai International airport waiting to board my flight to Casablanca via Abu Dhabi. Am wondering if this is for real. Am fascinated by the benevolence of and grateful to IBM that has made this sojourn possible.

IBM launched its Corporate Service Corps (CSC) program in 2008, around the time  when one of the biggest global financial crisis was about to unravel. CSC has a resemblance to the Kennedy era Peace Corps which by the way is still around. This program is IBM’s key response to fulfill its corporate service responsibility. What’s interesting is this is an international program the beneficiaries of which are some 40 odd developing countries.

So, coming back to the Morocco story there are 15 of us, all IBMers, from 10 different countries heading there. We all get there on the 1st April and get cracking with our assignments from 3rd April all the way through 29th April. I am going to be joined by colleagues from Australia, Japan, Vietnam, Germany, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, U.S.A. & Canada. So that makes it a major cross-cultural mix. Prior to heading out each one of us was asked to prepare a cultural profile using the services of https://www.countrynavigator.com. This was a major revelation and has helped us be well prepared for an intense cross-cultural exchange.

Now the 15 of us are being organised into four sub-groups. The first one has been assigned to AMSAT, an NGO that supports children affected by down syndrome. The second group has been assigned to theMinistère de l’Education Nationale et de la Formation Professionnelle to help promote ICT in Morocco’s schools. The third group is assigned to Startup Maroc, a non-profit organisation devoted to building Morocco’s start-up environment. The fourth group is assigned to CNEA, a quasi government organisation meant to strengthen Morocco’s business environment.

CNEA is the one I am assigned to and look forward to this consulting stint. Our objective is to provide specifications for CNEA to build a project/program coordination mechanism that would help them in their goal of strengthening Morocco’s business environment. One of CNEA’s performance metrics is to get Morocco to enjoy a higher ranking in the World Bank’s annual “Ease of Doing Business country rankings” Currently, Morocco ranks 68 of 190 countries (compare this with India which stands at 130)  in ease of doing business. I hope our small contribution helps Morocco in enhancing its position as an increasingly attractive destination for doing business. And don’t forget the the bonus of it being a super tourist destination.

Morocco Calling! Here we come !!