Focus sur le rapport de la Banque Mondiale sur la situation économique au Maroc avec Mostapha El Jai - 31/03/2025 - Vidéo Dailymotion

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MEDI1TV Afrique : Focus sur le rapport de la Banque Mondiale sur la situation économique au Maroc avec Mostapha El Jai - 31/03/2025

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00:00Ladies and gentlemen, good morning and welcome to Mediain TV.

00:11Today, we focus on the latest report on the economic situation in Morocco,

00:16published by the World Bank.

00:18And we focus on the first edition of the Business Ready barometer,

00:22a new index that evaluates the climate of business and investment in the world.

00:26An index that places Morocco in a favourable, comfortable position

00:30and which shows significant progress made by the Kingdom

00:34in improving its business climate.

00:37Let us recall that the World Bank expects a growth of 3.6% in 2025 for Morocco,

00:43driven by an agricultural rebound and a sustained internal demand,

00:47but insists on the need to accelerate structural reforms

00:51to strengthen employment and business competitiveness.

00:55We speak with Mustapha El-Jaye,

00:57Professor of Economics at the Hassane II University in Casablanca.

01:01Hello and thank you for being with us.

01:07Hello, Madam. Thank you for the invitation.

01:08I am Mouba El-Khan.

01:10So, we will focus on the climate of business and investment in Morocco.

01:14What is the state of affairs?

01:15How is Morocco positioned on an international scale?

01:18I just said it in preamble, we are talking about a comfortable position.

01:22What do you think?

01:23As you have said, this new Business Lady report from the World Bank,

01:29the first report for Morocco,

01:31which replaces a bit of the late, if you will, Dowing Business,

01:36with the weaknesses it experienced in 2021.

01:39So, this report provides a quantitative assessment

01:43of all indicators related to the business environment.

01:47And of course, Morocco, as it focuses on the private sector

01:52and private investment to boost its growth,

01:55the objective, as we know from the government,

01:58is to have two-thirds of the investment coming from the private sector by 2030

02:03and one-third coming from the public sector,

02:06knowing that we are in a reverse position at the moment.

02:09Morocco, overall, to attract investors,

02:13both local and foreign, and we need them for the currency,

02:18must improve its business environment.

02:21And of the 50 countries that the World Bank has analysed,

02:24what is positive is that, on these indicators,

02:27Morocco is in a positive position,

02:30especially in relation to countries with equal income

02:34and equal level of development.

02:36We will talk in more detail about these indicators.

02:39On the regulatory side, in any case, and that of public services,

02:43Morocco is in a comfortable position.

02:45It is solid, as you said.

02:47At the moment, it exceeds not only the countries with low intermediate income,

02:51but also the countries with higher intermediate income.

02:54How do you explain these results?

02:58These results are the result of reforms

03:01that Morocco started a long time ago,

03:04another decade, to prepare the business environment a little bit.

03:09There are still things to be done, to refine,

03:14and I think it is ongoing.

03:16So, there are law texts that are being prepared

03:20to wrap everything up on the legislative side.

03:24Of course, now there is also the application.

03:27There are also strong points of Morocco, highlighted in this report,

03:31which are linked, for example, to international trade.

03:33Morocco is doing very well, it has good connectivity,

03:37proximity to international markets,

03:40and what is very important is the digitization of everything that is import-export.

03:45And there, as you said in your introduction,

03:49Morocco is even in a good position

03:51in relation to countries with high income.

03:55We also have other strong points of reference,

03:59such as financial services.

04:01It is also mentioned in this report,

04:05although there are still a few refined efforts

04:10to generalize these services a little bit,

04:13such as recourse and financial inclusion.

04:16And I would also like to point out

04:22the four sectors, or rather the four axes,

04:25the indicators that show some weak points

04:28that Morocco would gain from improving.

04:30We are going to talk about this.

04:32There is operational efficiency, which is more or less limited.

04:36So, why?

04:38What needs to be done to improve this indicator?

04:41Absolutely. So, for Morocco's weak points,

04:45in particular operational efficiency,

04:50there are, of course, constraints related to this efficiency.

04:55And we can cite, if you want,

04:57the first and most important point, which is commercial liquidity.

05:01As I told you, the ideal would be to encourage arbitration

05:06to avoid systematic court recourse

05:09given the length of the proceedings and the cost.

05:12So, in my opinion, arbitration could be a solution.

05:15And I think that the Ministry of Justice is working in this direction

05:19to increase the number of able arbiters

05:23to deal with this kind of case.

05:25There is also a very important point

05:28which is related to the insolvency of companies.

05:31The number of unsolvable companies

05:34that are in trouble, or even that close,

05:38becomes worrying, especially at the level of SMEs.

05:40We have seen the latest statistics.

05:43We are talking about 12,000 to 16,000 companies.

05:46Indeed, the insolvency and competitiveness of these companies

05:52are two pointed fingers.

05:54Absolutely.

05:55And innovation.

05:57The report also cites innovation,

05:59especially at the level of the private sector.

06:02So, Morocco has an interest in encouraging

06:06start-ups, companies that invest in new technologies,

06:12AI that comes into force,

06:14to be, if you will, at the level of the emerging countries.

06:28There is a big problem, which is the cost.

06:31In English, it's labour.

06:33First of all, the cost of employment and the flexibility

06:38of the employment market is very important.

06:40It encourages, it is part of the business environment,

06:45and it encourages foreign and international investors

06:51to invest more in Morocco.

06:53Employment remains a weak point, as you know,

06:56on all levels, in terms of unemployment,

06:59in terms of efficiency, training, continuous training,

07:05and, of course, at the cost level.

07:07It is still a very important point.

07:10There is also, we can add, if you like,

07:14in this regulatory framework, which remains positive,

07:20but which, in some cases, the texts are not applied.

07:26I give an example, for example, in terms of payment delays.

07:28Payment delays, which are a major source of unemployment for companies,

07:33remain very slow, despite the texts of the law being voted on,

07:36and despite the texts that exist.

07:39So, practice, sometimes...

07:40There is a recent law that has been put in place.

07:44We are in the third phase of this law,

07:46and today, things, in any case, on the ground,

07:48seem to be improving, according to the experts

07:51we have already received on this panel,

07:52who have talked about this subject.

07:54We see an improvement since the application of this law,

07:57in any case, don't we?

07:59Exactly.

08:00There is also a point that remains to be improved,

08:05which is the progress to be made in electronic payments

08:09for, if you like, a substitution of the federal currency

08:14by a digital currency.

08:16And here, I think, as Mariette is working on it,

08:18the GPBM is also a strong point,

08:21because when we talk about this aspect,

08:25we refer to the informal, to the non-loyal competition,

08:30and competition is also an important element

08:35for the business environment.

08:38So, that's it.

08:39But overall, as we said,

08:40the balance remains positive for Morocco,

08:43since on six indicators,

08:45in the 50 countries that this business treaty deals with,

08:51Morocco is positioned very well on six indicators,

08:55and I think we have to tackle these weak points

08:58to try to give, I would say,

09:02the share that Morocco deserves,

09:06in terms of geostrategic position,

09:09in terms of stability,

09:10in terms of a royal vision for all structuring projects.

09:14And Morocco, as we know, is also a hub for Africa,

09:17and it deserves much more than the 3.2 billion

09:20that we have in terms of GDP.

09:23We must easily be at 10 billion, in my opinion,

09:26if these conditions are met.

09:29Six indicators in which Morocco is positioned

09:32in a more or less comfortable position out of 10,

09:35let's remember, you said it,

09:36so the challenges to be tackled today

09:38are the competitiveness of companies,

09:40the insolvency of employment, innovation,

09:43but also the widening of electronic payment.

09:48Let's now talk about what can draw this economy.

09:51We are talking about an agricultural rebound

09:53and an internal demand that is quite sustained.

09:57We will end the year, I think,

09:59according to all the World Bank forecasts,

10:01we will go down to 3.5, 3.6,

10:03but it is true that Morocco deserves a growth rate

10:07of at least 5 to 6%

10:10to, one, move towards emerging countries,

10:13two, very important,

10:15and three, to absorb these human margins of young unemployed people

10:18that we have in Morocco.

10:19This is the big weak point that deserves all the attention,

10:23and I think the government has come so close

10:27with this 14 billion dirham program

10:30to try to encourage companies

10:34to recruit these young unemployed people,

10:36since the unemployment rates in certain regions,

10:39at the level of certain categories,

10:40unfortunately, are sometimes a little worrying.

10:44This is also the big issue of this government,

10:48and I hope that Morocco,

10:50God willing, next year,

10:51I hope we will have a good agricultural year

10:54and have growth rates

10:56that exceed the forecasts of 3.5,

10:59which, in my opinion, 3.5 remains an insufficient rate.

11:03We have to make a minimum of 5%,

11:05knowing that this growth rate

11:08now creates only 15,000 to 20,000 jobs

11:12with regard to mechanization, digitalization,

11:16against 25,000 to 30,000 jobs before.

11:19So we have to do a lot more growth rates

11:23to mitigate this rather worrying unemployment.

11:28A positive growth rate,

11:30estimated at 3.5 to 4% for 2025,

11:34but we need a little more, you just said it,

11:36to reach 6, 7% to generate more added value

11:41and create jobs.

11:42And this is done through the support of small businesses,

11:46very small businesses,

11:47which represent 90% of the entrepreneurial fabric

11:52and which are the creators of wealth,

11:55of value and of jobs.

11:58Absolutely.

11:59So, as you said, 90% of our economic tissue is GDP.

12:03The largest is less than 10 million dirhams.

12:07So this GDP, unfortunately,

12:09suffers from several issues,

12:11access to financing,

12:15payment time, treasury.

12:17So it is this GDP that we must help and support.

12:21I think that the decision,

12:24I would say,

12:25that we must salute Bank of Morocco

12:26during the last Council, last week,

12:29to finance,

12:30refinance the banks that have decredited GDP

12:33at a 2% rate against a 2.25% rate

12:37is a healthy solution

12:39that must now be accompanied by practical meetings

12:43between the GPBM, Banque Moroccaine, the CGM,

12:46why not the Federation of SMEs,

12:49but everyone,

12:50Tim Wilcox, because there are also guarantee funds

12:53that facilitate access to financing to these SMEs,

12:56gather all these good people

12:59and discuss,

13:00and pose the problems in a concrete way,

13:03and try to bring effective solutions.

13:06All this brings us back to our topic of Business Lady,

13:10and I hope that, God willing,

13:12next year,

13:13the indicators,

13:14Morocco still presents some weaknesses,

13:16will be improved

13:18so that we can have more foreign and national investors.

13:24And once again,

13:25do not forget the vision,

13:27reverse the trend,

13:29two-thirds of private investment

13:31against a third of public investment.

13:32That is, in my opinion, the objective.

13:34And it is only the private sector,

13:35private investment,

13:36which creates employment,

13:37which creates wealth.

13:39Thank you, Mr. Mustapha El-Jaye,

13:41for this analysis of this report.

13:44A more or less positive overall assessment.

13:46So, six very solid indicators out of ten,

13:49as we said during this broadcast,

13:50but still efforts to be made on certain points

13:54to further improve the robustness of the national economy.

13:58I remind you that you are a professor of economics

14:00at the Hassan II University of Casablanca.

14:02It was a pleasure to have you with us.

14:05It was a pleasure to share my day.

14:07Thank you for the invitation.

14:08See you soon.

14:09This is the end of Focus Eco for today.

14:11We will meet again tomorrow with a new guest,

14:13a new topic.

14:14Have a very good day.

Focus sur le rapport de la Banque Mondiale sur la situation économique au Maroc avec Mostapha El Jai - 31/03/2025

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