In May 2020, UM6P and the OCP Foundation launched the CoopLab, a laboratory of expertise and support for Moroccan and African cooperatives, which capitalizes on a combination of expertise from the University and the Foundation, as well as on a set of innovative support levers undertaken in the service of social inclusion and sustainable growth. It is in this particular context of health crisis that the CoopLab has developed, in collaboration with the 1337 coding school, “Sookoa”, an e-commerce platform which supports Moroccan and African cooperatives.  www.sookoa.ma offers partner cooperatives a new marketing method through digital and the gradual establishment of a short circuit system for the distribution of purchased products.

Several tests and recommendations for improving the functionality of the platform were also carried out thanks to the participation of the Act4Community initiative and its network of regional cooperatives.

In this sense, a partnership around the Mourafaka program was signed between the Ministry of Tourism, Crafts, Air Transport and the Social Economy, the UM6P, the Cooperation Development Office (ODCO) and the OCP Foundation. This is a program supported by Cooplab-UM6P which will support the training and support of 600 newly created Moroccan cooperatives in the 12 regions of Morocco.