At just 32, Salah Eddine Abqari has become one of the youngest faces in Morocco’s new government. King Mohammed VI appointed him on Friday as Minister Delegate to the Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, with specific responsibility for Youth affairs, as part of the broader formation of the executive team led by Prime Minister Fatima-Zahra Mansouri.
Born in 1994, Abqari built his career inside the administrative machinery of Morocco’s culture sector rather than through the more conventional path of party politics. A 2016 graduate of the National School of Commerce and Management (ENCG) in Kenitra, he spent nearly a decade climbing the ranks of the ministry in roles that rarely attract public attention but carry considerable weight behind the scenes. Since 2023, he had served as director of administrative and financial affairs for the culture sector, a position overseeing budgets, human resources and the day-to-day running of a department with a wide-ranging mandate.
His profile gained further weight in 2025, when he was named acting secretary general of the culture sector, a post he held right up until his appointment to government. That trajectory, rooted in mastery of internal administrative processes rather than a traditional political career, sets him apart from many of his cabinet colleagues who rose through party ranks.
On a personal note, Abqari is married and the father of one daughter.
His appointment fits into a wider pattern of generational renewal within the Mansouri government, which was formed in early October after weeks of negotiations among the ruling coalition’s parties. Several portfolios were handed to technically-minded or relatively young officials, a move political observers read as an attempt to refresh the executive’s image and respond, at least symbolically, to the expectations of a young population that makes up a significant share of Morocco’s electorate.
Whether the new minister delegate can translate years of administrative experience into tangible results remains an open question. The youth affairs portfolio faces persistent structural challenges, from graduate unemployment to uneven access to organized recreational and cultural programs across regions, as well as a pressing need to strengthen the associative fabric that underpins youth engagement nationwide. The coming weeks, which will see the government’s program presented before Parliament, should offer a clearer picture of the priorities he intends to pursue.
