Fatim-Zahra Ammor

Fatim-Zahra Ammor or Fatima-Zahra Ammor (born 1967) is a Moroccan engineer, consultant and politician.^[1] Since October 7, 2021, she has been the current Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts and Social and Solidarity Economy of Morocco.^[2]

Fatim-Zahra Ammor
Ministry of Tourism, Handicrafts and Social and Solidarity Economy
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 October 2021
Monarch	Mohammed VI of Morocco
Prime Minister	Aziz Akhannouch
Preceded by	Nadia Fettah Alaoui
Personal details
Born	1967 (age 57–58) Rabat, Morocco
Citizenship	Moroccan
Political party	National Rally of Independents
Education	Engineer and Business Administration
Alma mater	National School of Advanced Techniques (B.Sc.)

Early life and education

Fatim-Zahra Ammor was born in Rabat in 1967 into a family of intellectuals. Her father is a banker and her mother a novelist.^[1] After completing her high school studies at Lycée Lyautey in Casablanca, she flew to France for preparatory classes, then joined the National School of Advanced Techniques in Paris (ENSTA Paris), where she earned her engineering degree in 1991.^[3]

Professional career

Returning to Morocco in 1992, she began her professional career in Marketing at Procter & Gamble under James Michael Lafferty before joining the Moroccan Akwa Group in 2001 as a Marketing Director and member of the executive committee where she successfully built about twenty strong brands.^[4] During this period, alongside Aziz Akhannouch, she directed the Timitar, festival of World Music in Morocco in Agadir, with the purpose of repositioning the City of Agadir as a cultural destination ^[5] In 2012, she began counselling executives in marketing and business development, allowing her to lead many international events on behalf of public institutions Assises de l'Agriculture, Salon du Cheval, Berlin Green Week, etc.^[6] In 2014, she was appointed General Commissioner of the Milan Universal Exhibition (Expo Milano 2015) by King Mohammed VI. Under her leadership, the Moroccan pavilion was the 5th most visited of the Exhibition by welcoming 3 million visitors in 6 months ^[7] In 2021, she joined the board of directors of the Société des Boissons du Maroc, a subsidiary of the Castel Group.^[8]

Political career

Being a member of the RNI party (National Rally of Independents), she joined the government led by Aziz Akhannouch as Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts and the Social and Solidarity Economy in the government's effort to end the post-Covid-19 crisis and relaunch Moroccan tourism, a key contributor to the Moroccan economy.^[9]

On 7 October 2021, she was appointed as the Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts and Social Economy by King Mohammed VI in the cabinet of Aziz Akhannouch, succeeding previous minister Nadia Fettah Alaoui.^[10] Tourism in Morocco is a major source of income and foreign currency for the country, and she has been entrusted to re-activate it following the COVID-19 pandemic.^[11]

Personal life

Fatim-Zahra is married and a mother of two. Her husband is a senior executive for an international company. She had previously lived in Luxembourg with her husband from 2017 until her entry into government in 2021.^[12]