SWISSECO: How do the technological solutions developed by SICPA, particularly in terms of traceability and security, address today’s challenges of digital sovereignty, authenticity and trust?
Ali Naciri: At SICPA, in the physical world as in the digital one, our solutions have always aimed to authenticate, secure and identify, whether we are talking about security inks for banknotes, central bank digital currencies (CBDC), protecting the legitimate economy, or citizens’ digital identity, among others. Protecting these essential elements means protecting vital assets, essential to the sovereignty of States. True to this commitment, SICPA is now developing a range of integrated solutions, brought together within our sovereignty platform.
SWISSECO: GITEX Africa highlighted the continent’s potential in cutting-edge technologies. How do you see the digital ecosystem in Africa evolving, and what place does SICPA intend to occupy in it in the years to come?
A.N.: GITEX Africa was an opportunity to present our solutions, particularly in the field of digital identity. We offer complete technological systems enabling authorities to issue, manage and verify highly secure digital credentials. While pilots – in which SICPA is taking part – are being rolled out in Europe, the African continent is not lagging behind, and numerous initiatives and events on these topics are taking place there. SICPA thus regularly takes part in the annual ID4Africa meetings, a pan-African movement dedicated to building strategic capacity in this field. Such inclusive, privacy-respecting identity projects are indeed essential to economic growth, as part of the continent’s digital transformation.
More broadly, a growing share of our technology portfolio is now based on digital technology and data science. In these fields, Morocco is also proving to be a pioneer, notably thanks to a university system that trains very good specialists. It is therefore no surprise that we have established in Casablanca one of our centres of excellence and our digital coding centre for highly secure tax stamps, where Moroccan developers and experts design SICPA solutions tailored to the specific features of the continent.
SWISSECO: Which areas or sectors in Morocco could benefit most from SICPA’s innovations in secure digitalisation and value chain transparency?
A.N.: Morocco was the first African country on the continent to adopt a modern traceability system, with our solution, in the form of enhanced tax stamps, creating an interconnection between physical, tangible goods and intelligible digital data that the authorities can use in real time.
Our solution monitors supply chains by marking, tracing and authenticating goods in a unique and secure way throughout their life cycle. The authorities thus have an arsenal that enables them to combat illicit trade practices (under-declaration, tax evasion, smuggling, counterfeiting, distribution of unauthorised goods) and they enjoy total visibility.
This system, a perfect combination of physical security and digital technology, has become a model for many African countries, as shown by regular visits from foreign administrations. We are continuing our innovation efforts with enhanced modules based on the state of the art. It is now possible, for example, to focus field inspections on a given area, harnessing the power of artificial intelligence combined with the analysis of the millions of useful data points that our solutions can generate.
Thanks to its very strong capacity for innovation, SICPA has stayed consistently ahead of the players in the illicit economy, and has done so for many decades. Our parent company, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2027, continues to work in the service of trust and the sovereignty of States.