Launch of GITEX Future Health Africa in Casablanca
Economy
Casablanca is hosting the first edition of GITEX Future Health Africa Morocco, a meeting dedicated to the digital transformation of healthcare in Africa.
The exhibition was inaugurated on Monday by the Minister of Health and Social Protection, Amine Tehraoui, under the theme 'The digitalization of the future of healthcare in Africa, AI for essential care'.
Placed under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed 6, this first edition is organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, in strategic partnership with the Mohammed VI Foundation for Science and Health, and carried by KAOUN International, organizer of GITEX events worldwide.
The choice of Casablanca confirms Morocco's willingness to position itself as the African platform for digital health.
For three days, from May 4 to 6, the exhibition brings together public and private actors from nearly 30 countries, as well as 200 exhibiting brands, including AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Sanofi, Numih and Elekta.
Their presence reflects the growing interest of major international groups in the Moroccan and African healthcare market.
At the opening, Amine Tehraoui recalled that health remains a major public policy, while becoming a strategic global market.
He highlighted the simultaneous acceleration of infrastructure, digital, industry, and financing in Africa, in a context where technologies advance faster than the systems that must integrate them.
The Minister emphasized the concrete uses of artificial intelligence in care.
He cited algorithms capable of anticipating epidemic outbreaks, telemedicine to reduce distances, aid to diagnosis in underserved areas, and assistance to complex medical procedures, from health centers to university hospitals.
For Amine Tehraoui, Africa has the necessary assets to build its health sovereignty.
He called for better coordination around an African market for medicines and medical devices, mutualized vaccine production, and shared epidemiological systems.
The exhibition aims to provide a space for action for this ambition.
Startups, industrials, investors, and public decision-makers are brought together around common projects, with the goal of promoting partnerships and financing.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, welcomed in a video message the leadership of Morocco and its partnership in favor of a healthier, safer, fairer, and more sovereign Africa.
He emphasized the role of digital technologies and artificial intelligence in building more resilient, equitable, and effective healthcare systems.
The WHO head, however, recalled that the issue is not only about technology, but about how to design and deploy it.
He pleaded for solutions that meet real needs, data systems that preserve trust, tools that support healthcare professionals, and investments that strengthen national capacities and regional cooperation.
The opening ceremony took place in the presence of several government members, institutional officials, the CGEM president, Chakib El Alj, and accredited ambassadors to Morocco.
After the GITEX Future Health Africa Executive Summit, the program continues with the Future Health Congress, structured around the Future Hospitals Forum and the Future Care Forum.
Through this first edition, Morocco establishes a new continental meeting to accelerate the emergence of integrated, interoperable, and data-driven healthcare systems.