Lublic and private entities are becoming increasingly aware of the need to commit to the climate by taking concrete actions that are more respectful of the planet, threatened by global warming. This fundamental trend on a global scale has resulted, among other things, in the establishment and adoption of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. ESG criteria make it possible to assess the consideration of sustainable development and long-term issues in the strategy of economic actors (companies, local authorities, etc.).
It is from this angle that we must assess the content of the Global Investor ESG Survey 2021 study by the international firm PwC (present in Morocco), published in November 2021 and conducted with 325 investment professionals. The document essentially states that more and more investors are currently questioning the notion of the positive and negative impact of companies, insofar as this impact is combined with their performance over the long term.
Nearly 80% of people surveyed by PwC consider ESG risks to be an important factor in their investment assessments, and nearly half of investors (49%) surveyed say they are ready to sell their stake in companies that do not do not take sufficient measures in favor of ESG issues. In view of the above, ESG aspects have become a key parameter in the eyes of international investors.
What about the Kingdom?
In Morocco, it is also time to take ESG issues into account. The Casablanca Stock Exchange, in collaboration with the independent international ESG research and services agency Vigeo Eiris, has set up “Casablanca ESG 10”, an ESG benchmark index. The Casablanca ESG 10 index is a tool to promote the development of good ESG practices among companies that use the capital market. The tool is likely to attract a new category of investors interested in socially responsible investment (SRI).
In the same vein, one of the largest investors in the country, which is none other than the CDG group, adopted a Sustainable Development Charter in April 2022. The public entity thus places sustainability at the heart of its long-term growth model. In this respect, it is important to specify that CDG Invest’s investment decisions take ESG criteria into account.
Maghreb Industries, a textbook case
Maghreb Industries, which is the leading producer of confectionery in Morocco and which exports to five continents, is now reaping the fruits of its efforts to invest in clean energies, in this case photovoltaics. Indeed, thanks to its green factory with a roof covering an area of 12,000 m2, equipped with solar panels, the company has a rate of energy autonomy and self-consumption of 38%. This is a real guarantee of competitiveness, at a time when the industrial energy bill is soaring because of the war in Ukraine.
“Our new facility in Casablanca, powered by a 1.4 megawatt solar power plant on its roof, will allow us to set a new standard of excellence using less carbon footprint than any other confectionery manufacturer,” according to Hakim Marrakchi, CEO of Maghreb Industries. The business of the businessman, one of the emblematic figures of Moroccan employers, is promised a bright future, since several investors are jostling at his door because seduced by his environmental bias. That said, extra-financial reporting, which consists for a company of communicating on the social, environmental and societal implications of its activities as well as on its mode of governance, is still the prerogative of listed companies and a few large public and private groups.
The challenge for promoters of sustainable development and long-term issues is to get smaller structures (VSMEs, local authorities, decentralized administrations) to give more importance to ESG criteria in their mode of governance.