Morocco Invests 5.3 Billion Dirhams in Mosque Development Plan

This action plan (Mosques Vision 2017-2021) set up by the supervisory ministry and managed by the Directorate of Mosques within the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs (MHAI) requires an envelope of 5.3 billion DH, an increase of 28% compared to the budget allocated for the period 2012-2016. Of this amount, 4.2 billion DH will be allocated to the investment component and the rest will be used for operating expenses. Additional financing for the plan will be provided by donors for around 1.95 billion dirhams, or 390 million DH per year, informs L’Économiste.

Among the priority axes of this plan is the construction and development of mosques with a budget of 1.7 billion DH. These projects mainly aim to support the development of new urban areas and strengthen the existing network, in order to fill the lack of places of worship. Since, with the growth of the population, the kingdom needs 170 mosques per year to meet the population’s needs, according to the analyzes of the MHAI. Moreover, in terms of subdivision, some regions are better served than others. For example, Greater Casablanca and Rabat have only two mosques for 5,000 inhabitants, while in regions like Souss-Massa, Marrakech and Tangier, the number planned for 5,000 inhabitants exceeds 7 mosques.

In 2017, 34 mosques were built and opened to the public with a budget of 360.5 million DH. But in 2018, the construction pace slowed down and only 14 mosques were built at around 111 million DH. Of all the projects planned for the 2017-2021 action plan, a total of 63 mosques have been built, or 86% of the projects. Between 1999 and 2019, 1,642 mosques were built and 267 were built by the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs. The other small and medium-sized mosques, on the other hand, were financed by donors. Thus, more than 200 mosques were built between 2005 and 2016.