Moroccan Minister of Islamic Affairs announced the country needs to build 200 mosques every year.

Morocco needs to build 200 mosques every year, the Moroccan Minister of Islamic Affairs, Ahmed Toufiq, announced yesterday.

"The construction of new mosques aims at keeping pace with the country's demographic growth and urban expansion," Toufiuq said during a celebration of Mosques' Day in the Moroccan capital city of Rabat.

His ministry seeks to build "80 mosques in the next five years," he added, calling for donors "to support the government in building 1,000 mosques over the same five-year period."

"There are currently a total of 2,216 closed mosques, 723 of which are in the process of renovation for reopening," Toufiq pointed out.

There are some 51,000 mosques in Morocco, 72 per cent of which are located in the countryside, the minister noted.