(Agence Ecofin) – In 2020, in the midst of covid-19, fundraising in Morocco stood at $134 billion. A year later, while the impacts of the crisis continue to be felt, these fundraisings have progressed markedly, reflecting the maturity of the private equity activity in the Kingdom.
In 2021, fundraising by all capital investors in Morocco reached 1,867 billion dirhams ($186 billion), an increase of 40% compared to 1,350 billion dirhams ($134.4 billion). ) raised in 2020. These figures were made public on Tuesday, May 17, on the occasion of the presentation of the rapport of activity 2021 of the Moroccan Association of Capital Investors (Amic).
Of the 28 active members of Amic, made up of local and foreign investment capital, venture capital and development capital structures, all established in Morocco, 12 structures, the majority of which are transregional funds that operate in several regions in Africa, have made most of the investments in Morocco in 2021. These invested an amount of 1,152 billion dirhams through 22 commitments in Moroccan companies and 8 reinvestments.
These record figures for private equity in Morocco in 2021 can be explained, according to Tarik Haddi, president of AMIC, by “a maturation and an accelerated rise in experience of the activity, despite the effects of covid-19 which are still felt on the economic fabric”.
In 2020, in the midst of a global health crisis, fundraising nevertheless continued in Morocco. Nevertheless, the funds invested by Moroccan investors have largely been lower than those provided by their foreign counterparts.
This situation, which was once again observed in 2021, has been going on for 9 years in Morocco, where transregional funds (present in several regions in Africa) monopolize 80% of the funds raised in Morocco while Moroccan funds share the 20 % remaining.
Over the past five years, between 2017 and 2021, fundraising in Morocco has peaked at 6996 billion dirhams. Divestment operations continued in 2021. Exits from companies in the health, services and construction sectors have enabled their investors to generate the highest internal rates of return (IRR) in Morocco.
Chamberline MOKO