Mariam Taidi-Rabat

It draws attention in its unusual form, waving as remote-lit boxes that furnish public squares in Rabat in Morocco. One young man approached a 30-year-old and took a charging cord and stopped charging his mobile phone comfortably, while other youths sat against him and opened their laptops to connect to the internet offered free of charge on the side of the box; it is 'ecobox', the brand name of waste containers turned into a source for charging phones and Internet connection.

Ecobox boxes with solar-powered roofs provide phone charging services via USB ports that provide lighting and Internet connectivity in their surroundings, with brightly lit advertising spaces.

190 smart containers distributed so far in Morocco

A young man who shipped his phone from EcoBox in Moulay El Hassan Square in Rabat expressed his admiration for the service. He said that "providing the service of charging the phone in an open space is a smart idea that will provide young people with permanent Internet connection or charging the phone after these services were available only in cafes."

Investment and sustainability
Many passers-by al-Jazeera Net pay attention to the boxes to find out what they are and what they are aiming for, and some stop to try the service and charge the phone or connect to the Internet, while others just draw exclamation marks on their faces or throw empty cups of juice inside them remained stuck in their hands after they drank what is in them.

The idea of ​​ecobox for young Adnan Mokteb (23 years) dates back to about five years ago, and he tells the island that the idea started with the preparation and development of the 22 cup projects (the climate conference that Morocco received in Marrakech in 2016), and that he thought at the time to achieve an invention of an investment character providing a public service .

Adnan, imbued with the culture of green economy, invented the smart container, and make its solar-powered shrines spaces for the announcement of small companies, so as to benefit them in the investment and economic side.

Smart Container provides advertising space for companies (Al Jazeera)

Adnan adds that the Smart Container project combines public service and attractive services such as phone charging and Internet connectivity, and makes it easier for small businesses to access the advertising market, pointing out that access to the advertising sector in Morocco is monopolized by some quarters, and that breaking into its field is expensive.

Free public service
Ecobox works exclusively with solar energy, making it transportable to all places, and contributing with local authorities in the collection and management of waste on a truck line of the company carrying the project.

It also provides phone charging service, Internet connection and lighting and provides public spaces for use in advertisements of small and medium enterprises, ensuring high viewing through the panels installed on the sides of containers.

Ecobox containers are currently distributed in Rabat, Tangier Mediterranean Port, Marrakech Airport and Casablanca train stations, with a total of 190 smart containers in Morocco.

The company is working on a plan to distribute 300 new smart containers in the cities of Morocco until the end of this year (Al Jazeera)

Adnan is working in coordination with the local authorities to complete the installation of 300 new containers by the end of this year, bringing the number to 900 next year.

Adnan stresses that he was keen in the new generation funds to avoid the shortcomings of the first generation of funds, and stresses that the model currently presented in the yards of Morocco is unique, and that all stages of production have been in Morocco, and that he will work to manufacture new products equipped with solar energy in the future related to stops Buses, in order to provide services in line with the requirements of the times.