"Conceived as a paradise for coders, the centre offers project-based training on programming, innovation and building IT systems. Tuition is free and students largely create their own curricula. It all happens on a 24-hour campus reminiscent of Silicon Valley, complete with a canteen, graffiti art and games rooms," the paper underlines.

The institute ran its first courses in 2018, it said, adding that Morocco’s phosphate giant OCP set up the 1337 campus, converting a disused factory in the central mining town of Khouribga, in a bid to address the country’s need for tech expertise. The name of the centre comes from a system of modified spellings known as Leet Speak or “1337 5P34K”, used by hackers and gamers to show their “elite” status in online communities.

The institute works closely with 42, a French programming school created in 2013 by telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel.

The idea is to attract “the invisible youth, misunderstood geeks who don’t fit into the system and have developed rare skills on their own”, said director Larbi el Hilali.

Students are selected on the basis of performance in logic and memory tests, motivation and progress and no formal qualifications are required, the paper notes, stressing that "the Maghreb region is seen as an incubator for traditionally trained engineers."

Some 8,000 computer engineers graduate every year in Morocco, but that is not enough to meet the demands of the country’s digital transition, the paper underlines.