February 10, 2023

Morocco has had one of the highest investment rates in the world for more than 10 years, standing at around 30% of GDP.

The Council for Development and Solidarity (CDS), an independent think tank, contributes to the debate on investment and the role of the territorial state. A symposium took place on Wednesday in Rabat during which reflection was initiated around these two topical themes. The goal is to identify and understand the changes that are being made at this level. Insights were shed on the imperatives of resilience and competitiveness, the measures and instruments put in place to support the new vision in terms of investment, as well as the role of the Mohammed VI Fund to catalyze private investments in the most important economic sectors. more promising. Discussions also focused on recent legislative reforms as well as the means of freeing up energies and getting operators to adhere to the new Investment Charter.

Mohcine Jazouli emphasizes the transparent and readable nature of the Charter

Intervening in this regard, Mohcine Jazouli, Minister Delegate in charge of Investment, Convergence and Evaluation of Public Policies, reminded the audience that the new Investment Charter offers a “transparent and readable” framework. to the structured investor. In this sense, the Minister listed the different axes around which this strategic project revolves, in particular the support mechanisms for investment, the improvement of the business climate, as well as a unified and territorialized governance of investment. He also reviewed the various support mechanisms contained in this charter as well as the cross-cutting measures to improve the business climate. Mr. Jazouli enumerated in this sense the simplification of procedures and administrative deconcentration, the facilitation of access to land, the strengthening of logistical competitiveness, the facilitation of access to green energy, the establishment of adapted training offers, the promotion of research and development activities and access to new technologies as well as the diversification of financing methods.

Abdellatif pleads for a harmonious mobilization

For his part, Abdellatif Jouahri, Wali of Bank Al-Maghrib, recalled that “Morocco is making a significant and constant investment effort, but which has so far given rise to insufficient economic growth, on a downward trend, with a increasingly low employment content and whose spin-offs do not benefit all regions in the same way”. He specified in this regard that “the international environment has not always been favorable, especially in recent years, but it is on the internal factors that we can and should act to rectify the situation”. And to add: “With a harmonious mobilization of all the stakeholders in a unifying framework, in this case the National Investment Pact announced by His Majesty, the objective of 550 billion dirhams of investment and 500 thousand jobs by 2026 would no longer be out of reach, paving the way towards the eventual realization of the ambition of the economic and social emergence of our country”. It should be noted that the CDS aspires through its event to federate the actors of the public and private sector to strengthen the dynamics of development of the Kingdom and contribute to the acceleration of the projects carried out in this direction.

Chakib Alj insists on revitalizing private investment

Indeed, Morocco has had one of the highest investment rates in the world for more than 10 years. It stands at around 30% of gross domestic product (GDP), thus exceeding the world average of 20%. “The return on this investment remains modest, with 144,000 jobs created during the 1999-2009 period, compared to 72,000 jobs from 2010 to 2019”, indicates Chakib Alj, president of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM).
In this sense, Mr. Alj called for the investment effort to go in the direction of revitalizing private investment and directing projects towards productive sectors that create jobs and added value in all regions of Morocco. The boss of bosses has, to this end, called for the regions to be further valued from an economic point of view and to make them real catalysts of growth for the country. In this regard, Mr Alj emphasized the role that public-private partnerships would play as an essential and innovative financing tool and a solution for limiting recourse to debt but also for local authorities to be able to on the expertise of private operators.

What the CDS aims for

Referring to Mohamed Benamour, president of the think tank, the CDS, which includes among its members many leaders of SMEs and large companies, intends to “relay the Royal call to make a qualitative leap so that private investment reaches 2/3 of total investment by 2035”. In this sense, the official expressed the CDS’s ambition that future investment in Morocco be directed more towards the productive sectors that create the most jobs and growth. Mr. Benamour also underlined the need to move in the direction of a State which “obviously continues to ensure its central role at the economic and social level, while being a facilitator and organizer, creating the right conditions and the right investment incentives. Recall that the CDS aspires through this symposium to federate public and private actors to strengthen the dynamics of development of the Kingdom and contribute to the acceleration of the projects carried out.