Construction & Real Estate
From The Report: Morocco 2020
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Morocco’s construction sector has performed moderately well since the global financial crisis of 2007-08. Public policy efforts have also been directed towards supporting local small and medium-sized enterprises and upskilling workers. For Morocco’s construction sector to achieve its target of generating $8.4bn by 2022, it will need to maintain a steady momentum of public investment. At the same time, efforts to upgrade the legal framework in order to enable effective public-private partnership projects, formalise small-scale subcontractors and upskill the workforce will be required to raise productivity and increase the value of infrastructure projects. Meanwhile, the real estate sector recorded a subdued performance on most indicators in 2019, as prices and demand continued to fall or show little improvement. Nevertheless, construction will drive on across all real estate segments, as Morocco experiences rapid population and economic growth. This chapter contains interviews with Nouzha Bouchareb, Minister of National Planning, Urban Planning, Housing and Urban Policy; and Nawfal Bendefa, Managing Partner, REIM Partners.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Building momentum: Healthy public investment and regulatory reforms support a recovery in construction activity
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Morocco’s construction sector has performed moderately well since the global financial crisis of 2007-08. According to the most recent figures from the Ministry of National Planning, Urban Planning, Housing and Urban Policy, the sector contributed 6.3% to economic growth in 2017, or Dh59bn ($6.1bn), and created 15,000 jobs, including 1000 in rural areas. “Thanks to the quality of the workforce, including engineers and other skilled professionals, the sector has seen its performance and…

Interview

Next generation: Nouzha Bouchareb, Minister of National Planning, Urban Planning, Housing and Urban Policy, on promoting environmental sustainability in future construction projects
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Interview:Nouzha Bouchareb What steps are being taken to develop environmentally sustainable cities? NOUZHA BOUCHAREB: Morocco has considerable renewable energy potential, with 3000 hours of sunlight per year, 5 KWh per sq metre per day of irradiation and 25,000 MW of wind power. The country has set ambitious targets to integrate renewables into the energy mix in order to reduce costs and greenhouse gas emissions. In rural and landlocked areas particularly, renewables present an opportunities…

Overview

Greater alignment: A new investment scheme and valuation system bring welcome changes, while developers re-evaluate offerings against demand
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The Moroccan real estate sector recorded a subdued performance on most indicators in 2019, as prices and demand continued to fall or show little improvement. According to the real estate price index published quarterly by Bank Al Maghrib, the country’s central bank, and the National Agency for Land Conservation, Valuation and Cartography (Agence Nationale de la Conservation Fonciere, du Cadastre et de la Cartographie, ANCFCC), property prices decreased by 0.2% year-on-year (y-o-y) in the…

Interview

Commercial demand: Nawfal Bendefa, Managing Partner, REIM Partners, on how real estate investment trusts (REITs) will impact the market
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Interview:Nawfal Bendefa In what ways do you anticipate REITs will impact the commercial real estate market? NAWFAL BENDEFA: REITs are not an industry but a mechanism of support, an investment tool for all industries that rely on real estate as a tool for productivity, such as schools, offices and factories. How the commercial real estate segment performs is linked to the health of the industry as a whole. In an economy where education is taking off, and where health care, industrial and…