Interview: Omar Belmamoun How would you assess the most pressing challenges facing energy investments in the South? OMAR BELMAMOUN: Some of the region’s challenges are in fact opportunities for energy development. The southern region of Morocco presents opportunities with regards to its solar and wind energy potential. For example, the capacity-to-production ratio for solar is 1 MW for 2.5 GWh…
Interview:Stephen Jenkins How has the drop in oil prices affected exploration? STEPHEN JENKINS: The drop in oil prices has had a significant impact on global oil and gas exploration, and Circle Oil is not immune to that. Like all exploration and production companies, we had to review our cost base and our exploration, appraisal and development budgets in light of a much lower and more volatile…
Interview: Nasim Khan How will Morocco finance its energy projects? NASIM KHAN: Speaking in general terms, Morocco already has a proven track record of leveraging international and local financial resources. In fact, the kingdom is North Africa’s pioneer in terms of establishing a sustainable independent power production programme. I expect that the combination of its strong track record and socio-economic…
Interview: Youssef Chraibi How has the offshoring sector evolved in recent years, and what are Morocco’s main advantages? YOUSSE CHRAIBI: Turnover in the offshoring sector was Dh7.3bn (€794.2m) in 2013 and should reach Dh8bn (€870.4m) for 2014, representing as much revenue as the aeronautics sector and supporting as many jobs as the auto industry. It is the sixth-most-important sector in terms…
Interview: Mohamed El Guerrouj To what extent has the implementation of publicprivate partnerships (PPPs) in agriculture contributed to the development of the sector? MOHAMED EL GUERROUJ: PPPs were launched in 2004 as part of the government’s strategic vision to liberalise the economy, as the process of leasing agricultural state land had previously been handled by state companies. This vision…
Interview: Rita Maria Zniber What are the agriculture sector’s chief challenges? RITA MARIA ZNIBER: Morocco’s agriculture sector has long benefited from special attention by the public authorities, especially given its contribution to GDP and the number of jobs it creates. The widespread fragmentation of land use, which led to essentially subsistence farming with low yields, has hindered productivity…
Interview:Mohamed Nabil Benabdallah What can be done to reduce the housing deficit? MOHAMED NABIL BANABDALLAH: The housing deficit has decreased significantly in recent years, going from 840,000 units in 2012 to 642,000 in 2014. The objective is now to reach 400,000 units in 2016. This progress has largely been the result of increased private sector involvement, particularly with regards to…
Interview: Zhor Kabbaj What challenges do real estate promoters face? ZHOR KABBAJ: The main difficulty is not simply access to land; it is access to authorised land. There have been major advances in recent years in facilitating access to authorisation processes, through the creation of a single government office and the implementation of digital systems at municipal centres. Major obstacles have…
Interview:El Mostafa Sajid How is the outlook for Morocco’s textile sector? El Mostafa Sajid: Although we have not seen a lot of growth over the past few years, the textile sector is in good shape. We exported $3.7bn in 2014, for an increase of 4% over 2013. The sector outlook is positive, especially for proximity sourcing. Europe and the US are good niche markets, and fast fashion is the…
What is Morocco’s position today? In which category can we classify the national economy? Can we consider it a competitive country or rank it among other emerging countries? Everyone knows there is no specific model for emerging countries. Each country follows its own development path according to the human, economic and natural resources available, and depending on its civilisation and the…
