A second life for computers,
a second chance for young people

Accelerating digitalisation, an opportunity to get young people into work and digitally included

In Morocco, the digitalisation of the economy and tools for work and the development of remote services were given a big boost by the COVID-19 pandemic. This has led to an increasingly pressing need among businesses for skilled IT workers. With the digitalisation of learning and work, it has also become indispensable for students, the self-employed and job seekers to have their own computer equipment.

This is a double opportunity that has been seized by Green Chip 4.0, a project that provides early school leavers from Casablanca with computer maintenance training based on refurbishing obsolete equipment. The project is also directed at university students wishing to take a short vocational training course. It involves collecting end-of-life equipment from partner enterprises and institutions, refurbishing it and then selling it at an affordable price, particularly to students and the self-employed.

From training to job creation

The Green Chip 4.0 project was launched in October 2021 by the non-profit organisation Al Jisr School–Business Partnerships, with the support of Invest for Jobs. Al Jisr’s aim is to contribute to improving the performance of Morocco’s education system.

Under the Green Chip 4.0 project, Al Jisr revamped its workshops for the disassembly and refurbishment of obsolete computer equipment. It then trained a team of trainers, preparing them to deliver a one-year course. In all, Green Chip will provide training for 119 beneficiaries. Aged between 17 and 25, the trainees are selected on the basis of an interview aimed at assessing their level of motivation.

Thanks to its extensive partner network, Al Jisr will directly place part of its cohort of young training graduates with companies operating in different sectors that need specialists in computer maintenance. The aim is to create 86 jobs.

For this project, Al Jisr has also teamed up with Biougnach, a distributor of computer equipment and household appliances, to market the refurbished products. Biougnach will provide floor space at five retail outlets in Meknès, Tangier, Casablanca, Marrakech and Oujda. It will also provide customer and after-sales service.

Access to this low-priced refurbished computer equipment will also improve working conditions for more than 1,500 self-employed people in the first three years of the project.

An inclusive, green, solidarity-focused project

Aimed at creating jobs and improving working conditions, Green Chip 4.0 is a project with a strong focus on inclusion, environmental protection and solidarity. The project seeks to have a lasting impact by improving skills in the field of computer maintenance and promoting employment in different areas of the recycling industry. At the same time, it contributes to bridging the digital divide for students and the self-employed.

In October 2022, a year on from its launch, the project had already trained 75 people in computer maintenance.

By 2024, the project will have extended its activities to another Al Jisr centre, located in the city of Oujda in the north-east of Morocco, with a view to achieving nationwide coverage.

Green Chip 4.0 is supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH under the Special Initiative "Decent Work for a Just Transition" of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).