It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Friday, October 03, 2025
Ethiopia contracts China’s GCL to build $2.5bn refinery in Somali region
China’s Golden Concord Group (GCL) has signed an agreement with Ethiopia to build a $2.5bn oil refinery in the country’s Somali region, as part of efforts to cut petroleum imports and drive industrialisation. The site will be co-developed by GCL and sovereign wealth fund Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH).
APA News reports that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed officially launched the Gode project, laying the foundation stone for both the refinery and a new urea fertiliser project.
If realised, Gode would add to a wave of downstream investment across Africa in recent years. The facility is intended to process around 3.5mn tonnes of fuel annually, or about 70,000 barrels per day (bpd).
No commissioning date has been announced. But the first of two constructions phases should be completed within 24 months, according to Billene Seyoum, the prime minister’s spokeswoman, as quoted by Bloomberg. The facility will tap crude oil and condensate from the Hilala fields located in Ethiopia’s eastern Somali region, Abiy said in a post on X.
Oil and gas exploration in Ethiopia has been attempted for decades, with limited commercial success, owing to financing challenges, security concerns, and infrastructure gaps.
International companies including Tenneco, Petronas, and Chinese firms explored in the Ogaden Basin from the 1970s onward.
More recent efforts by Poly-GCL, a joint venture involving GCL, focused on developing the Calub and Hilala gas fields. The Gode Oil Refinery would be developed alongside upstream gas projects in those fields.
According to Addis Insight, Ethiopia’s Finance Minister Ahmed Shide and GCL’s chairman, Zhu Gongshan, have discussed fast-tracking refinery, metallurgy hubs, and oil & gas development.
The refinery project adds to a separate $2.5bn fertilizer plant that state-owned Ethiopian Investment Holdings is building together with Dangote Group, which will be fuelled by gas from Calub.
Nigeria’s $20bn Dangote refinery – the continent’s largest at 650,000 bpd – began operations in 2023 after years of delays and cost overruns. Angola this year inaugurated the 30,000 bpd Cabinda refinery, the country’s first new plant in five decades.
WAIT, WHAT?!
Kazakhstan appoints AI board member to sovereign wealth fund, awards voting rights
The next board session at Samruk-Kazyna will be a special occasion as AI colleague SKAI plugs into the meeting. / gov.kz
Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund, Samruk-Kazyna, on October 2 unveiled an artificial intelligence-based member of its board of directors, complete with voting rights.
The Samruk-Kazyna Artificial Intelligence Neural Network, known as SKAI, was introduced to the country’s president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, on October 2 during the Digital Bridge 2025 international tech forum held in Astana. One of the guests, Telegram cross-platform founder Pavel Durov, used the event to announce the creation of a dedicated artificial intelligence (AI) laboratory in Kazakhstan.
SKAI will participate in the next Samruk-Kazyna board meeting under a testing regime. It is billed as marking a significant shift in corporate governance in which AI is embedded directly into board-level decision-making. Samruk-Kazyna, which has assets running to tens of billions of dollars, claims the system will raise both transparency and the quality of decision-making at the fund.
SKAI will analyse and synthesise a wide range of information, including internal and external regulations, as well as board records dating back to 2008. Data-backed AI insights will be presented to directors to inform strategic direction.
“Setting of an AI-based neural network in the Board of Directors is a quantum leap: technology and people are starting to make decisions together, and digitalisation goes beyond processes and becomes part of the management philosophy,”said Nurlan Zhakupov, chairman of the management board at Samruk-Kayna, a major shareholder in companies including KazMunayGas, Kazakhtelecom, Kazatomprom, Air Astana, Kazpost and Samruk-Energy.
SKAI has been built with an emphasis on sovereignty and security. It operates on the AlFarabium-2 supercomputer, which belongs to Kazakhtelecom, a company within the Samruk-Kazyna portfolio. No data that it processes will be transferred abroad.
The infrastructure is powered by NVIDIA H200 processors.
The system runs on Alem, a Kazakh-language large language model (LLM).
Tokayev said at Digital Bridge 2025 that Kazakhstan is seeking to transform itself into a fully digital state within three years.
Addressing political leaders, entrepreneurs and technology specialists from more than 100 countries, Tokayev called for AI to be developed responsibly and inclusively.
“Our task is to harness new technologies for the benefit of humanity, turning them into a key factor in progress and cooperation,” said Tokayev.
Kazakhstan lately established a Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development. The creation of the Central Asian country’s first AI Council, and the passage of a dedicated law on AI have also been announced.
A forthcoming “Digital Code” will, said Tokayev, provide the legal framework for digital governance, education, healthcare and the economy.
Tokayev argued that digitalisation and the deployment of neural networks should underpin public administration in the years ahead. He highlighted SKAI as an example of Kazakhstan’s capacity for regional innovation.
The president, meanwhile, described as “historic” the decision to set up Kazakhstan’s first university dedicated to AI research. He also announced the launch of the Alem.ai International Centre for Artificial Intelligence, envisaged as a global hub for ethical AI and innovation, as well as plans for a second national supercomputer cluster to advance research and development.
“Alem.ai will become a place where artificial intelligence technologies are implemented as effectively and ethically as possible,” Tokayev said, emphasising that the ultimate goal was to safeguard human well-being.
Telegram AI lab
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov addresses the forum.
The dedicated AI laboratory announced by Telegram’s Durov will be located in the Alem.ai building, Forklog reported. It will form part of the company’s wider collaboration with Kazakhstan’s supercomputing infrastructure.
“A year ago, we opened our first regional office in Kazakhstan and are very pleased with the results. I am delighted to announce that today we are launching a specialised artificial intelligence laboratory in the Alem.ai building,” Durov said.
Telegram has recently been developing technology at the intersection of blockchain and AI, added Durov, saying it was designed to allow more than one billion people to access AI services in a manner that is “confidential, transparent and efficient.” The initiative is expected to rely on Kazakhstan’s national high-performance computing resources.
“We hope that the Kazakh supercomputer cluster will become the first major provider of computing power for this network,” Durov noted. Telegram’s mini-applications will be the initial users of the new AI functions.
Tokayev met Durov during the forum to discuss cooperation in areas including education, AI and cybersecurity.
US says USMCA talks with Mexico and Canada will "probably" be bilateral
WE CALL IT CUSMA
US investors identify four aspects as the most relevant concerns about Mexico: lack of energy access; insecurity; corruption; and uncertainty about regulatory frameworks.
Negotiations to review the free trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada (USMCA), scheduled for 2026, will "probably" be bilateral, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on September 30 at a New York Economic Club forum, El PaÃs reported.
Greer's words came just weeks after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum met in Mexico City to agree on topics they will evaluate in the commercial agreement review.
The Carney-Sheinbaum meeting sought to avoid a repeat of the 2018 negotiation in which the United States established conditions separately with each country. Then, Washington began talks with Mexico and closed some agreements only with Mexican negotiators, later integrating Canadian requests, who protested and accused Mexico of "throwing them under a bus", in reference to the behind-their-backs agreements.
"Obviously, we are going to cooperate directly: the USMCA is the strength of the whole, of the three countries, and contributes to making North America competitive," Carney said upon leaving the meeting with Sheinbaum, referring to the possibility of designing strategies between Ottawa and Mexico City to face negotiations with Washington.
Greer's statements align with US President Donald Trump's position. The US leader has floated various times the possibility of making separate trade agreements with Mexico and Canada, and has even imposed tariffs in different proportions on goods not included in the USMCA. However, both Sheinbaum and Carney have made clear the agreement's value is maintaining the three countries as a competitive bloc for global trade.
Trump’s aggressive trade policy has placed both governments in a defensive position. But his announcement of tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods, 25% in most cases and 50% on semi-finished metals, has been read less as an economic measure than as a negotiating tactic.
Following Greer's remarks, Mexican Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said part of the USMCA negotiations have "a high bilateral content". "It is inevitable, and there are other contents that are trilateral, for example, the trilateral dispute resolution system," he said.
Greer also said the Office of the US Trade Representative is reviewing points where Mexico has not complied with the treaty, Reuters reported. According to the 2025 Investment Climate in Mexico report published this month by the same agency, the US government has detected non-compliance regarding intellectual property by the Latin American country.
"In 2024, no investigations or criminal proceedings for trademark counterfeiting and copyright piracy were reported, and Mexico's Attorney General's Office did not report intellectual property enforcement statistics for the last five years," the report noted.
Additionally, USTR information indicates that US investors identify four aspects as the most relevant concerns about Mexico: lack of energy access; insecurity; corruption; and uncertainty about regulatory frameworks. The report also notes US businesspeople have reservations about the controversial judicial reform undertaken in 2024, which renewed half of Mexico's judges through elections.
"The 2024 judicial reforms could further impact the legal landscape for foreign investors, by affecting the predictability and impartiality of judicial decisions, as well as reciprocity in dispute resolution," the document stated.
Thursday, October 02, 2025
Generation Z is stirring up rebellion across borders, from Morocco to Madagascar
Analysis
Gen Z, the first generation to have grown up in the internet age, has been at the forefront of anti-government protests in several countries of the Global South. Madagascar and Morocco are the latest countries to be hit by these youth-led movements, which use digital tools to communicate anger at corruption and underfunded social services.
A persistent stereotype about Gen Z is that they are disengaged from and mistrustful of traditional politics, but judging by events over recent weeks, nothing could be further from the truth.
Media broadcasts have shown images of young people spearheading protests in the streets of Kathmandu, Nepal; Jakarta, Indonesia; Rabat, Morocco; and Antananarivo, Madagascar.
Three people were killed in anti-government protests across Morocco, the interior ministry said Thursday. The ministry said the three were shot and killed during an attempt to seize police weapons, though no witnesses could corroborate the report.
The protests have taken the North African nation by surprise and emerged as some of Morocco’s biggest in years. By midweek, they appeared to be spreading to new locations despite a lack of permits from authorities.
Madagascar’s protest movement began on social media under the banner “Gen Z Madagascar”, an informal group composed mainly of young people and students who claim to be “peaceful and civic-minded”. Although young people represent the overwhelming majority of the country's population – two-thirds were under 30 in 2023, according to UNICEF – Gen Z has never before taken such an active part in a political protest movement there.
“This gives it new symbolic power because it does not use the rationale of seizing power, but has an existential imperative: that of demanding a liveable future,” she said. A common digital culture
Very much at home in the digital world, Gen Z has managed to mobilise a large part of the population in several countries using hashtags, AI-enhanced images, fast-paced videos – along with a healthy dose of sarcasm. After Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina sacked his government on Monday, he suggested he would select candidates for a new cabinet using LinkedIn – a proposal that was widely mocked by young internet users.
This social unrest, driven by tech savvy youngsters rebelling against inequality, can be seen as part of a broad movement that has already affected several Asian countries in recent months, including Nepal in early September, where the government was toppled in a matter of days. The Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Kenya have all experienced similar protest movements.
In Morocco, thousands of young people active on the Discord messaging platform have been protesting since last week, mobilised by a movement that also claims to represent Gen Z.
Although unprecedented in terms of its organisation and methods of action, its demands are nevertheless in line with previous instances of social protest in the kingdom, according to Mehdi Alioua, a sociologist at Sciences Po Rabat-UIR.
“Ultimately, we see the same slogans calling for a more dignified life, better distribution of wealth, and above all, functional education and healthcare systems. These young people would like to respect the rules of a meritocracy, but they realise that the cards are stacked against them,” said Alioua.
In Madagascar, young people acknowledge the influence of Asian protesters thousands of miles away with whom they share many concerns, starting with the fight against inequality and corruption.
“The protests in Nepal were a key moment in the creation of the Gen Z Madagascar movement. Widely shared on social media, these protests in Asia played a major role in raising collective awareness in the country,” said a 26-year-old woman who did not want to named due to fears for her safety.
Madagascar: President dissolves government amid youth-led protests
“What happened in Nepal gave the people of Madagascar hope that it was possible to overthrow the system, that young people could take control of their own destiny, and that the country's situation was not inevitable. From then on, people began to speak out, and their voices came together under the Gen Z Madagascar movement,” she added.
A pirate flag from the Japanese manga series "One Piece" became a symbol of resistance for young people during protests in Indonesia and Nepal. In Madagascar, protesters are using a modified version of the flag where the skull-and-crossbones symbol sports traditional Malagasy headwear instead of a straw hat.
‘A turning point’
Protesters in Morocco and Madagascar are less focused than their counterparts in Asia on tracking the conspicuous consumption of “nepo kids” – children of the wealthy who flaunt their lavish lifestyles on the internet.
But in both Morocco and Madagascar, the anti-government movement is intent on exposing wealth inequalities between the ruling class and the average citizen.
Among the most viewed pages on the Malagasy internet are images of the eldest member of the Rajoelina family, who graduated from a Swiss hotel school costing €150,000 per year, while two-thirds of Madagascar's population live on less than two dollars a day.
Wasteful public spending is a common theme motivating the young protesters. In Madagascar, the costly Antananarivo cable car – one of the government's key infrastructure projects, but which has been deemed completely unsuited to the needs of the population – has galvanised the youth.
In Morocco, protesters are focusing on the huge sums spent on renovating several football stadiums for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations and the 2030 World Cup, funds that could have gone to public services such as education and healthcare.
“There is an interconnection among Gen Z, particularly in countries in the Global South, whose elders led the revolution for decolonisation. But today, there is a generational divide because these young people feel that the promises of an independent nation with functioning institutions have not been fully kept,” noted Alioua.
Morocco rocked by violent clashes as youths protest health, education system
“The similarities between all these movements are striking, both in terms of their demands and their methods of action, with viral campaigns, simple and inclusive slogans, and a rejection of traditional hierarchies. In all these countries, young people are acting as a barometer of a deep crisis in the state,” says Rafitoson.
Creative, daring and versatile, these Gen Z movements remain vulnerable to fragmentation and political exploitation. Can they move from expressing their collective anger to developing a real strategy? And can they avoid being assimilated into traditional political parties?
Gen Z: How social media fuel this generation's global revolt
Despite these uncertainties, youth movements have already demonstrated their ability to bring about change by bringing down governments, although the social challenges remain daunting.
“Gen Z may not yet have a formalised political agenda. But it has already changed the terms of the debate with the idea that it is no longer a question of surviving in a failing system, but of radically transforming it,” said Rafitoson. "This is not a passing revolt, but a profound generational change that is under way. We may be living through a turning point today across the globe."
Mass protests and strikes grip Madagascar amid calls for president to resign
Anti-government protests continued across Madagascar on Wednesday as thousands demand President Andry Rajoelina step down. Demonstrators staged strikes and marches over misgovernance, water and power cuts, while authorities used tear gas in the capital and at-risk regions.
Anti-government protesters in Madagascar held fresh demonstrations on Wednesday and called for a general strike, seeking to force President Andry Rajoelina to step down after nearly a week of action by the youth-led movement.
Police fired tear gas at protesters in the centre of the capital, Antananarivo, where some 10,000 clashed with police on Tuesday, although life had mostly returned to normal in the rest of the city by later that afternoon, according to AFP journalists on the ground.
A crowd of several thousand marched in the northern city of Antsiranana, demanding the president's resignation, a local source told AFP, while several hundred gathered in Toliara, in the south.
Rajoelina on Wednesday evening organised a meeting at the presidential palace with foreign diplomats, spokesperson Lova Ranoromaro told AFP.
Ranoromaro added that the protesters had dispersed "without a clear leader emerging ... to allow for a structured exchange" of views.
Near-daily protests over misgovernance and water and power cuts began in Antananarivo last Thursday and spread to other cities across the Indian Ocean nation of almost 32 million people.
Despite Rajoelina having sacked his government on Monday in a bid to placate the unrest, anger has been intensified by a heavy crackdown on protesters.
At least 22 have died and more than a hundred have been injured in the unrest, according to the UN.
The government has rejected the tally as unverified and "based on rumours or misinformation".
"The dismissal of the government is not enough for us," a spokesperson for the "Gen Z" movement leading the protests told AFP on Tuesday, adding further demands are the president's resignation and "the cleaning up of the National Assembly".
Another anonymous demonstrator told AFP that "living conditions of the Malagasy people are deteriorating and getting worse every day".
Rajoelina "has been in power for 16 years, but nothing has changed" in a poverty-stricken society, he said.
After not contesting the 2013 election under international pressure, Rajoelina was voted back into office in 2018 and re-elected in 2023 in contested polls boycotted by the opposition.
Initially silent, the opposition endorsed the movement through a rare joint statement on Wednesday, with opposition leader Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko and former president Ravalomanana among the signatories.
More than 200 local NGOs on Wednesday made a joint appeal for an "immediate end to all forms of repression" and for the "respect of the right to protest".
On social media, the Gen Z movement earlier called for the dissolution of the Senate, the Constitutional Court and the electoral commission as well as for businessman Mamy Ravatomanga, reportedly Rajoelina's main financial backer, to be put on trial.
"Trade unions from the public sector are called to join a general strike," the movement said, without giving a date for the proposed labour action.
The national water and electricity distribution company, JIRAMA, and the main labour inspectors' union had already announced they would go on strike.
Social media, meanwhile, highlighted images of a young boy with a facial injury, with Antananarivo's main hospital indicating that "the government has provided free treatment for the boy injured" during the protests. The hospital posted an image of the child, head bandaged, undergoing medical scans.
Political scientist and human rights activist Ketakandriana Rafitoson said the protests risked dragging on and intensifying if authorities rely on force to suppress dissent instead of prioritising accountability.
"That outcome risks political fragmentation, stronger nationalist rhetoric against perceived external interference, and possible economic fallout as investors and donors withdraw or condition support," the member of Transparency International Madagascar told AFP.
Pope 'saddened'
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday said he was "saddened by the news coming from Madagascar" and called for "the promotion of justice and the common good".
Five of the main civil society organisations also called for Catholic Church-led talks to "prevent Madagascar from sinking into chaos or civil war".
Madagascar ranks among the world's poorest countries but is the leading producer of vanilla and has natural resources in farming, forestry, fishing and minerals.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Morocco protest leaders demand government dismissal after deadly unrest The group leading Morocco’s mass protests demanded the government resign on Friday after days of unrest left three people dead. “We demand the dismissal of the current government for failing to protect rights and meet social demands,” GenZ 212 said in a statement.
The group leading Morocco's mass protests called on Friday for the government's dismissal, following days of unrest that have seen the deaths of three people.
The demand came after fresh demonstrations demanding reforms to the health and education sectors took place across the kingdom on Thursday, a sixth consecutive day of largely peaceful protests pockmarked with spates of violence.
"We demand the dismissal of the current government for its failure to protect the constitutional rights of Moroccans and respond to their social demands," protest group GenZ 212 said.
The group, whose organisers remain unknown, also demanded the "release of all those detained in connection with the peaceful protests".
The rallies across the usually stable country have been fuelled by anger over social inequality, particularly following reports last month of the deaths of eight pregnant women at a public hospital in the city of Agadir.
Many Moroccans feel that the public health and education sectors should be improved as the kingdom pushes forward with major infrastructure projects to host the Africa Cup of Nations in December and part of the 2030 World Cup.
GenZ 212 said it was basing its demand for the firing of the government on an article in the constitution that "grants His Majesty the King the power to appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister and members of the government".
The group has largely used the Discord online messaging platform to spread its calls for protest, and has repeatedly distanced itself from the violence and vandalism seen in some cities.
In the capital Rabat on Thursday, demonstrators carrying Moroccan flags demanded "health and not just stadiums", according to an AFP journalist, who said there were no violent incidents.
Other rallies were reported in Casablanca, Marrakech and Agadir, also with no sign of unrest.
'Dialogue'
Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch said in his first public address since the unrest started that his government was willing to "engage in dialogue" and "respond to the (protesters') demands".
The premier also said three people had been killed during protests the night before, describing the events as "regrettable".
An interior ministry spokesman said that all three demonstrators were killed after attempting to storm a local law enforcement station on Wednesday night.
The authorities had initially said two protesters were killed when officers opened fire on a group of demonstrators that they accused of wielding "bladed weapons" and said had attempted to "storm" the station near Agadir.
Health minister Amine Tehraoui said in a speech to parliament on Wednesday that several reforms were underway but acknowledged that they were "still insufficient to close the sector's gaps".
Since the demonstrations started, hundreds of mostly young people have been arrested.
GenZ 212 has urged demonstrators against violence and had called for Thursday's protests to be peaceful "as part of a civilised and responsible expression of our demands".
As of Wednesday night, more than 400 people had been arrested during the rallies, with nearly 300 people -- mainly from the security forces -- injured, according to the interior ministry.
The ministry also said 80 public and private establishments have been vandalised, adding that demonstrators had also damaged hundreds of cars.
Some 134 people, six of whom are in detention, are set to be tried in Rabat soon, according to lawyers.
'Dignity, social justice'
Demonstrators have called for "the fall of corruption" as well as "freedom, dignity and social justice".
Despite its calls for protests, GenZ 212 has also asserted its "love for the homeland and king", referring to Morocco's monarch Mohammed VI.
However, it says it stands against some political parties.
Clashes have erupted in some cities, including in Sidi Bibi, near Agadir, where demonstrators set offices of the local commune headquarters on fire, according to media reports and videos on social media.
In the city of Sale, north of the capital Rabat, an AFP journalist saw hooded demonstrators set fire to two police cars and a bank branch.
"The young people I saw vandalising and breaking things in Sale have nothing to do with GenZ 212," said resident Hicham Madani.
"They are young thugs who came with the intention of vandalising."
Demonstrations have convulsed Morocco for several days, urged on by the GenZ 212 group, a recently formed collective based on the Discord web platform whose organisers remain unknown
The demonstrations, organised by a leaderless movement dominated by internet-savvy youth, have taken the country by surprise and emerged as some of Morocco's biggest in years.
Morocco's government said on Thursday that it would address grievances fuelling youth-led protests, a day after security forces killed three people during the unrest.
Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch said he was saddened by the deaths, praised law enforcement for its efforts to maintain order and indicated that the government was prepared to respond favourably to the protestors demanding better public healthcare and education.
Speaking before a council of government ministers, he did not detail the reforms under discussion, but said he was "ready for dialogue and debate within institutions and public spaces."
"The approach based on dialogue is the only way to deal with the various problems faced by our country," Akhannouch said.
Authorities updated the death toll from this week's unrest to three on Thursday, saying that armed rioters had stormed public buildings and disrupted public order as the youth-led anti-government demonstrations showed few signs of abating.
Security forces disperse a gathering as youth led protests calling for healthcare and education reforms turned violent in Sale, 1 October, 2025 AP Photo
Security forces opened fire at demonstrators on Wednesday, killing three people in Leqliaa, a small town outside the coastal city of Agadir.
Morocco's Interior Ministry said the three were shot and killed during an attempt to seize police weapons, though no witnesses could corroborate the report.
The ministry said 354 people, mostly law enforcement, had sustained injuries. It said hundreds of cars were damaged, as well as banks, shops and public buildings in 23 of the country's provinces.
Throughout the country, roughly 70% of the demonstrators were minors, according to ministry estimates.
The demonstrations, organised by a leaderless movement dominated by internet-savvy youth, have taken the country by surprise and emerged as some of Morocco's biggest in years
By midweek, they appeared to be spreading to new locations despite a lack of permits from authorities.
Morocco's Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York, 23 September, 2025 AP Photo
Those taking part in the so-called Gen Z protests decry what they see as widespread corruption.
Through chants and posters, they have contrasted the flow of billions in investment toward preparation for the 2030 World Cup, while many schools and hospitals lack funds and remain in a dire state.
But chants were fewer as violence broke out in several cities on Wednesday evening, following days of mass arrests in more than a dozen cities, particularly in places where jobs are scarce and social services lacking.
The chaos came despite warnings from authorities, political parties in government and the opposition and the organizers themselves.
In a statement published on Discord, the Gen Z 212 protest movement earlier on Wednesday implored protesters to remain peaceful and blasted "repressive security approaches."
A person runs past a torched police vehicle as youth led protests calling for healthcare and education reforms turned violent in Sale, 1 October, 2025 AP Photo "The right to health, education and a dignified life is not an empty slogan but a serious demand," the organisers said.
Still, the protests have escalated and become more destructive, particularly in cities far from where development efforts have been concentrated in Morocco.
Local outlets and footage filmed by witnesses show protesters hurling rocks and setting vehicles ablaze in cities and towns in the country's east and south.
The Moroccan Association for Human Rights has said that more than 1,000 people have been apprehended, including many whose arrests were shown on video by local media and some who were detained by plainclothes officers during live television interviews.
The Gen Z protests mirror similar unrest sweeping countries like Nepal, Kenya and Madagascar. Demonstrators have harnessed anger about conditions in hospitals and schools to express outrage over the government's spending priorities.
Morocco's prime minister Aziz Akhannouch, third from left, during a signing ceremony of FIFA Africa office in Marrakech, 16 December, 2024 AP Photo Pointing to new stadiums under construction or renovation across the country, protesters have chanted, "Stadiums are here, but where are the hospitals?" and alleged rampant corruption at everyday people's expense. As Morocco prepares to host soccer's Africa Cup of Nations later this year and politicians gear up for a parliamentary election in 2026, the link has drawn attention to how deep disparities endure in the North African kingdom.
Despite rapid development, according to some metrics, many Moroccans feel disillusioned by its unevenness, with regional inequities, the state of public services and lack of opportunity, particularly for youth, fuelling discontent.
Two killed as Morocco protests escalate into clashes with police
Two people were shot dead when police opened fire on a crowd attempting to storm a police station in southern Morocco on Wednesday, state media said, as nationwide protests, fuelled by anger over corruption and inequality, entered their fifth day.
Two people were killed when officers opened fire on a group attempting to “storm” a police station in Morocco on Wednesday, state media said, as protests – sometimes violent – roil the North African nation.
Demonstrations have convulsed Morocco for several days, urged on by the Gen Z 212 group, a recently formed collective based on the Discord web platform whose organisers remain unknown.
Morocco’s interior ministry said on Wednesday that more than 400 people had been arrested and nearly 300 injured during rallies demanding reforms to the public health and education sectors.
Later that evening, a group tried to “storm” a police station in Lqliaa, near the coastal city of Agadir, the government-owned MAP news agency reported, citing local officials.
Officers “were forced to use their service weapons, in legitimate self-defence, to repel (the) attack”, which aimed to “seize ammunition, equipment and service weapons”, MAP quoted the unnamed officials as saying.
The officials said police beat back an initial attack, but the group came at them again, wielding “bladed weapons”, MAP reported.
“During this attempt, two people died from gunshot wounds, while others were injured during their participation in the attack,” the officials said.
A judicial investigation into the incident has been opened, MAP reported.
Hundreds of protesters gathered on Wednesday in several Moroccan cities, including Casablanca, Tangier and Tetouan.
The rallies were taking place with official authorisation for the first time since their outbreak on Saturday.
Demonstrators called for “the fall of corruption” as well as “freedom, dignity and social justice”, and some demanded that Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch step down.
Many, though not all, of the protests have been peaceful.
Local media also reported incidents of vandalism in Sidi Bibi near Agadir, and in small towns that Gen Z 212 had not designated as protest sites. Clashes
Ministry spokesman Rachid El Khalfi said the clashes involved protesters using knives, Molotov cocktails and stones.
A total of 263 police officers were wounded to varying degrees, along with 23 protesters, including one hospitalised in Oujda.
El Khalfi said 409 people were detained following the unrest, during which more than 140 police vehicles and 20 private cars were set ablaze.
“Protesters also stormed government offices, bank branches and shops, looting and vandalising them,” especially in Inezgane and Oujda, he said.
AFP footage showed tense confrontations lasting several hours along a main avenue in Inezgane.
In Rabat, prosecutors decided on Wednesday that a group of 97 people, including three in detention, would face trial, according to their lawyer, Souad Brahma. Another 26 people were released without charge, she said.
Prosecutors had already said an initial group of 37 people, including three in detention, would face trial on Tuesday, Brahma added.
Gen Z 212, which expressed “regret” over Tuesday’s violence, describes itself as a “discussion space” focused on issues affecting all citizens, such as health, education and fighting corruption.
Social inequality remains a major issue in Morocco, with sharp regional disparities and a significant gap between the public and private sectors.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Morocco rocked by violent clashes as youths protest health, education system
Violent clashes broke out in several Moroccan cities for a fourth straight night over health and education reforms, local media reported. More than 260 security officials and 23 civilians were injured in the clashes and 409 people were arrested, Morocco's interior ministry said Wednesday.
Violent clashes erupted in several Moroccan cities late Tuesday between youths and security forces, local media reported, after days of protests calling for reforms in the public health and education sectors.
Videos published by news outlets which AFP was unable to verify showed masked demonstrators in Inezgane, near Agadir, hurling stones at police, setting fires near a shopping center and damaging a local post office.
Similar scenes were reported in nearby Ait Amira, in central Morocco's Beni Mellal and in Oujda in the northeast.
Morocco's interior ministry said 263 members of the country's security forces and 23 civilians were injured in the clashes.
Protesters used knives and threw Molotov cocktails and stones, with 409 people taken into police custody, the ministry's spokesperson said in a statement. GenZ 212 calls for peaceful protests
The youth-led protests were initiated by a collective known as "GenZ 212", whose founders remain unknown.
In a statement posted late Tuesday on its Facebook page, the group expressed "regret over acts of rioting or vandalism that affected public or private property".
It also urged participants to remain strictly peaceful and avoid any behaviour that could "undermine the legitimacy of our just demands".
The new protests marked the fourth consecutive day of demonstrations, though there were no reports of violence before today. The “Gen Z” protests mirror similar unrest sweeping countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Madagascar. In some of Morocco's largest anti-government protests in years, the leaderless movement has harnessed anger about conditions in hospitals and schools to express outrage over the government’s spending priorities.
Pointing to new stadiums under construction or renovation across the country, protesters have chanted, ‘Stadiums are here, but where are the hospitals?’ Additionally, the recent deaths of eight women in public hospital in Agadir have become a rallying cry against the declie of Morocco’s health system. The movement, which originated on platforms like TikTok and Discord popular among gamers and teenagers, has won additional backing since authorities began arresting people over the weekend, including from Morocco's star goalkeeper Yassine Bounou and its most famous rapper El Grande Toto.
Officials have denied prioritising World Cup spending over public infrastructure, saying problems facing the health sector were inherited from previous governments. In Morocco’s parliament, the governing majority said it would meet on Thursday to discuss healthcare and hospital reforms as part of a meeting headed by Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch.
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