An English-speaking call center in Morocco, built for UK and US customers
Morocco is one of Africa's biggest customer service hubs, but most of that capacity serves French and Spanish speakers. We built Strait CX for English only, in the north of the country.
Morocco's call centre industry, and the gap in it
Global operators such as Teleperformance, Concentrix and Intelcia run large sites in Casablanca, Rabat and Fès. Their queues mostly serve France, Belgium and Spain, because French and Spanish are widely spoken in Morocco.
English is different. It is the third or fourth language for most Moroccans, but a growing group of graduates under 30 speak it at a near-native level, often from English studies, translation schools and years of English-language media. Few call centres recruit them for English work, which is the gap we fill.
Because fluency varies so much from person to person, every Strait CX agent passes a scored English test at C1 or above before a client meets them.
Time zone
Morocco uses UTC+1 for most of the year and moves to UTC+0 during Ramadan.
| Compared with | Difference | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| London | 0 hours in summer, 1 hour ahead in winter | A normal day shift covers the UK day |
| Paris, Madrid, Berlin | 1 hour behind in summer, same time in winter | A normal day shift covers most of Europe |
| New York | 5 to 6 hours ahead | An afternoon-to-midnight shift covers the Eastern day |
| Los Angeles | 8 to 9 hours ahead | Pacific cover needs a late or overnight shift |
Why Tétouan rather than Casablanca
Less competition for English speakers
Casablanca and Rabat have the most call centres, so agents move between employers for small pay rises. In Tétouan, most centres hire for Spanish and French, and strong English speakers have fewer options.
A large university on the doorstep
Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, one of Morocco's largest, teaches English studies at its faculty in Martil, a few minutes from Tétouan. Tangier, an hour away, adds the King Fahd School of Translation.
An offshoring park
Tétouan Shore is a government-backed business park built for outsourcing companies, with fibre connections and backup power.
Data protection when you outsource to Morocco
Morocco's data protection law, Law 09-08, is enforced by the national authority, the CNDP. It is modelled on European rules.
Morocco does not have an adequacy decision from the UK or the EU. That means personal data can go there, but only with a transfer safeguard in place: the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) for UK data, or the EU Standard Contractual Clauses for EU data.
We sign the right safeguard with every client, alongside a data processing agreement. Our agents work inside your systems, so customer records are not copied to our side.
This is general information, not legal advice. Your own data protection lead should review any transfer.
Questions about outsourcing to Morocco
Is English widely spoken in Morocco?
Arabic, Amazigh and French are the main languages, and English is growing fast among younger graduates. That is why we test every agent instead of assuming fluency.
Do Moroccan agents have a strong accent?
Accents vary from person to person. Our English test scores pronunciation and listening, and you hear a recorded call from every candidate before you choose.
Is Morocco stable enough for outsourcing?
Morocco has hosted large European and American outsourcing operations for over two decades, and Tétouan Shore was built by the state to attract more of them.
How does Morocco compare with the Philippines for English support?
The Philippines has far more English-speaking agents and suits very large teams. Morocco suits UK companies that want daytime cover, and US companies that want an evening shift rather than a night shift, with a smaller, closely managed team.