The passing of a budget law is always a significant political moment. It's the instant a country reveals its priorities, its funding priorities, and therefore its vision of itself. This legislation reflects a direction, an ambition, a will. This year, it's particularly evident. There's a new coherence between the revenue the government is preparing to collect, the investments it's making, and its vision for society.
The 2026 Finance Bill sends a strong and forward-looking signal. For the first time, sport is fully recognized as a driver of development. Five years of tax exemption for economic stakeholders in sport, targeted tax breaks for professionals and coaches, and a planned system of regulated deductions for private donations: these measures did not appear out of thin air. They are the result of a national strategy and a royal vision, consistent for over two decades, that invests in youth, talent, and the modernization of our sports infrastructure.
This orientation is in line with a clear project: to build a sovereign Morocco, confident in its vital forces, convinced that collective performance is based on cohesion, discipline and inclusion.
The work carried out by Fouzi Lekjaa is in line with this approach. He did not simply defend a budget. He outlined a genuine public policy for football. A policy that links governance, investment, and social justice.
As Minister Delegate for the Budget, he successfully implemented a structured, modern, and fair vision for financing football. And as President of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, he demonstrated on the ground that governance, rigor, and investment could produce tangible results: the emergence of a generation trained at the Mohammed VI Academy, the victory of the under-20 team, the historic semi-final appearance at the 2022 World Cup, and the rise of regional clubs.
These successes are not due to chance. They are the result of collective work, constant commitment and a political will to open up sport to all social classes, to make it a space of equality, dignity and national pride.
Today, Moroccan sport is no longer just entertainment. It has become a living intangible heritage, an educational tool, a school of merit, and an engine of social development.
This turning point deserves to be welcomed, because it proves what a comprehensive vision, backed by royal will and supported by a determined government, can produce when accompanied by political courage and concrete means.
And this logic must now be extended to another structuring axis of development: culture.
For decades, both individually and within the Federation of Cultural and Creative Industries (FICC) of the CGEM (General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises), many of us have passionately argued that culture is much more than a source of inspiration. It is a pillar of our sovereignty, a driver of territorial and national development, and, above all, of prosperity. By creating this federation, we realized the extent to which economic recognition can transform a sector. Our cultural and creative industries already represent 2.7% of GDP, more than 140,000 jobs, a third of which are held by women! But the potential of the CCIs remains hampered by the lack of a fair and structured tax framework.
Culture, like sport, is a space for education, empowerment, transmission, and influence. It produces stories, emotions, and images that unite us and affirm our identity. In a world where influence is wielded through creativity, Morocco has everything to gain by transforming its intangible heritage into strategic capital.
If we have been able to provide sport with a stimulating fiscal framework, why not do the same for culture?
Making culture a catalyst for our emergence, on par with industry, energy, and sport, means recognizing that our cultural enterprises are dynamic, that they create jobs, value, cohesion, and pride. Providing them with an enabling environment is not granting them a privilege; it is an act of vision and boldness. It is not an expense; it is an investment in youth, in growth, in creativity, and in the talent that will make all the difference in the age of artificial intelligence.
Following the path laid out by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, based on trust, creativity, and the development of intangible assets, the 2026 Finance Bill embodies this vision in structuring public policies. It is now up to us to extend this momentum by fully integrating culture.
Giving culture the same tools as sport, so that both become the pillars of a Moroccan model of human and economic development, complementary in this dynamic.
Morocco in 2030 will be built in its factories and laboratories, but also in its stadiums, stages, workshops, and studios. Sport has paved the way. Now it's up to culture to take over.
By Fihr Kettani
