Kenya and Morocco have signed a memorandum of understanding on sports and creative arts development.
The MOU was signed on Monday in Rabat between Kenya Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba and the Minister for National Education, Preschool, and Sports of the Kingdom of Morocco, Chakib Bemmoussa, with a main focus on sports and creative arts.
The two agreed on the establishment of a MoU between Kenya and Morocco to provide a formal arrangement for cooperation.
CS Ababu underscored the need for the two nations to collaborate, noting that Kenya stood to gain from Morocco’s advancement in football talent development structure, infrastructure development, and management, while also offering Morocco an opportunity to exploit Kenya’s prowess in athletics and rugby.
“We consider Morocco a model in football talent development. As we look ahead to the 2027 AFCON, which we are hosting, we want to take key lessons from you on how to build a formidable team to compete with the rest of Africa,” the CS observed.
He added that Nairobi was happy to develop an exchange program between the Kenya Academy of Sports (KAS) and Morocco’s talent development agency, as well as establish a linkage between schools in Kenya and those in Morocco to nurture and monetize talents in the schooling ecosystem.
This, he said, was key to actualizing the Kenyan government’s flagship Talanta Hela initiative, which seeks to identify, nurture, and monetize talents by targeting the base where talents are domiciled—the school ecosystem.
Mr. Benmoussa assured the CS that Morocco was ready to partner with Kenya, noting the various benefits that Rabat would draw from the agreement, especially in the area of athletics.
Morocco has won the bid to host the 2025 AFCON as well as the co-hosting rights for the 2030 World Cup, and Nairobi is keen to take lessons from Rabat as it prepares for the Pamoja AFCON’27.
Morocco is set to host the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 2025 and to co-host the 2030 World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal, the first cross-continental and triple-cohosting of the world’s premier football event.
Ababu is scheduled to visit the Mohammed VI Football Academy in Salé, a top sports academy in Africa and among the best in the world, and to see ongoing infrastructure developments.
