Fez — Morocco’s Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid has published a new essay arguing that culture should become a central pillar of national development.

Éditions La Croisée des Chemins has released “La culture, une ambition marocaine” (Culture, a Moroccan Ambition) in French and Arabic. Mohamed Grou translated the Arabic edition.

The 176-page book presents culture as more than artistic production or heritage preservation. Bensaid frames it as an economic resource, a foundation for social cohesion, and an instrument of Moroccan influence abroad.

The essay carries a preface by Audrey Azoulay, who concluded her eight-year term as UNESCO director-general in November 2025.

Culture as a national project

Bensaid organizes his argument around three main areas. The first presents culture as a shared national project rooted in “tamaghrabit,” a concept expressing Moroccan identity and belonging.

This approach emphasizes the Kingdom’s diverse cultural foundations, including its Arab, Amazigh, Saharan, African, Andalusian, Mediterranean, and Jewish influences.

Rather than treating this diversity as a collection of separate traditions, the essay presents it as a source of national cohesion. Culture, in this view, connects Moroccans across regions, languages, and generations.

Bensaid argues that Morocco’s development cannot depend exclusively on infrastructure, investment, or industrial expansion. It must also draw from the country’s history, collective memory, and creative capacity.

Creative industries and skilled employment

The second part of the book positions culture as an economic sector capable of generating skilled jobs and supporting new forms of industrialization.

This argument covers the broader potential of cultural and creative industries, including cinema, publishing, music, gaming, design, crafts, heritage, and digital content.

Bensaid has previously highlighted culture’s employment potential, particularly as technological change transforms traditional professions. 

The essay argues that cultural investment can create qualified work while giving young Moroccans greater opportunities to produce and distribute original content.

Culture as Moroccan soft power

The book’s third pillar concerns international influence. Bensaid views culture as a form of soft power that can strengthen Morocco’s diplomatic presence without relying on political or economic pressure.

Moroccan cinema, music, literature, architecture, fashion, cuisine, and heritage already travel beyond the country’s borders. The essay argues that coordinated public policy could turn this visibility into a more sustained international strategy.

In her preface, Azoulay connects the proposal to UNESCO’s long-standing view of culture as a vehicle for dialogue, mutual understanding, and peace.

“La culture, une ambition marocaine” is available in bookstores across Morocco for MAD 95. Its central proposal is ambitious: cultural policy should not remain secondary to development planning.

The book’s broader relevance will ultimately depend on implementation. Turning culture into a genuine economic and social engine requires funding, access, professional training, and opportunities extending beyond Morocco’s largest cities.