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MOROCCO

Modernization boostseconomy and society

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KING MOHAMMED VI as-cended to the throne in July1999. In the 11 years since hewas crowned, the King has fo-cused his efforts on improvingthe lives of Moroccans byspurring economic growthand employment, and by pro-moting democracy and free-dom of the press.

In his speech last year mark-ing the 10th anniversary of hiscoronation, the King spokeabout the progress the coun-try has made, and was frankabout the challenges that lieahead in the effort to mod-ernize and develop.

“I consider it my responsi-bility to tell you unequivocal-ly that we need to pursue boldand determined programs toeliminate obstacles and cor-rect the wrongs that havethwarted our efforts,” he saidduring the speech. “Our goalis to successfully build Mo-rocco’s unity, democracy anddevelopment. We thereforeneed to develop our countryand put it in a position whereit is able to meet its challengesin a global environment thatis facing many constraints andundergoing a major transfor-mation.”

The reforms that have beencarried out under the King’sguidance have already trans-formed the country and itseconomy. Gross domesticproduct has grown at a steady

pace of 4-5% every year since2000, even during the years ofthe global economic crisis, andthe economy poised to con-tinue to expand at that pace incoming years.

There have been many dif-ferent sources of economicgrowth during the period. KingMohammed’s governmentshave passed laws opening upthe economy to foreign invest-ment, and in 2006 signed a freetrade agreement with the U.S.that has helped double Mo-roccan exports to the States.

The openness of Moroccanculture to foreign influences,and the stability of its govern-ment and society have provento be highly attractive to for-eign investors. The King’s in-fluence, and his popularitywith the Moroccan people,have also been influential inthis area, says Khalid Naciri,Minister of Communicationand the government’s officialspokesman.

“Our luck as a country is thatthe King is very much involvedin this development process,”Mr. Naciri says. “He stronglybelieves in the need to build amodern and democratic soci-ety. This is something he re-echoes very often in hisspeeches and it is a vision wemust achieve at all cost.”

One area where that visionhas progressed greatly is in thedevelopment of a free and openpress. There are now 22 dailynewspapers published aroundthe country, along with weeklyand monthly publications, thatare free to criticize the govern-ment, and many of them evenreceive government subsidies,regardless of their content.

The improvement of theeconomic, social and culturalsituation in Morocco has beena great draw for young Mo-roccans who have left thecountry to seek an education

or a job elsewhere, says KamalKassis, chairman of the Amer-ican Chamber of Commercein Morocco.

“In the past, there was animportant brain drain move-ment towards Europe, partic-ularly to France, from youngpeople who left the countryfor education and training pur-poses,” he says. “In the past fiveyears those young talentedpeople started coming back tothe country with new skills,ambition and happy to return.”

Another anchor for stabili-ty in Morocco has been itsclose and friendly relationshipwith the U.S., a relationshipthat has endured for more thantwo centuries. King Mo-hammed VI and his govern-ment look forward to manymore years of strong diplo-matic and commercial ties.

“Moroccans look at the Unit-ed States with a lot of consid-eration and respect, especiallybecause of the history betweenthese two countries,” says Mr.Naciri. “The U.S. is a great na-tion with huge internationalresponsibilities. You can counton Morocco and the Moroc-can authorities for a positiveoutlook on the United States.”

Our World

Bold and determined programs

designed to build Morocco’s unity,

democracy and development are

driving the nation’s transformation

BILATERAL RELATIONS

A unique historicalrelationship gets stronger

The Treaty of Peace and Friend-ship ratified by the U.S. Con-gress in 1787 and renegotiatedin 1836 began the longest con-tinuing treaty relationship inU.S. history. Along with thediplomatic relationship, com-mercial ties between the twocountries have a long history.The free trade agreement thattook effect on January 1, 2006,has already contributed to arapid growth of trade, with U.S.exports to Morocco triplingand Moroccan exports to theU.S. doubling since then.

The U.S. Embassy in Mo-rocco has long been involved inimproving the links betweenthe two countries and has beeninvolved in many programs tohelp spur economic growth,encourage and improve edu-

cation, and attract more U.S.investment to Morocco.

“We want to deepen thefriendship and partnership linkthat comes from bringingAmerican businesses here,” saysU.S. Ambassador Samuel L. Ka-plan. “If you want to createfriendship, it comes from edu-cational relationships, and justbeing here to tell people thatwe care about what happens inMorocco and if we can be of as-sistance we will do it.”

The U.S. diplomatic team inMorocco are rightly proud of aneducational program startedhere years ago called the AccessProgram, which brings studentsaged 14 to 18 to classes to learnEnglish. The program has beenso successful it has been ex-tended to 50 more countries.

In February, Morocco andthe U.S. reaffirmed their strongcommitment to work togeth-er to preserve and protect theenvironment, and to ensuresustainable development. Anew action plan was signed thatwill guide deeper environ-mental cooperation betweenthe two nations through 2012.

Morocco was the first country to recognize U.S.independence, in 1777, and the two countries havebeen close friends and allies ever since

Annual GDP growth over the past 10 years has been around 4-5%, and Moroccan exports to the U.S. have doubled since the signing of a free trade agreement in 2006

SAMUEL L. KAPLANU.S. Ambassador to Morocco

This report is available at

www.unitedworld-usa.com

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HHooww wwoouulldd yyoouu aasssseessss tthhee ccuurr--rreenntt ssttaattee ooff MMoorrooccccoo’’ss eeccoonnoo--mmyy??

Morocco has initiated veryimportant infrastructure pro-grams, including the construc-tion of highways, ports, airportsand power plants. Morocco isan open mine. This has enabledus to disconnect economicgrowth from the generosity ofheaven, because the agricultur-al sector accounted for 20% ofMorocco’s GDP and so whenthere is a drought it is felt onthe economy. Over the lastdecade, the negative effect ofdrought on the country’s GDPgrowth and wealth creation hasbeen substantially reducedwhile other areas of the econo-my continue to grow.

There has been a diversifica-tion of the kingdom’s industri-al, commercial and servicepotential. This paradigm shifthas been of benefit to Moroc-co. Through various contractsinvolving tourism and industry,eight key sectors of the Moroc-can economy have had com-parative and competitiveadvantages over other compet-ing countries in the areas of au-tomotive equipment, aerospaceequipment, textiles, apparel, theelectronics industry, agribusi-ness, offshoring, and tourism.

We have also expressed in-terest in huge infrastructure pro-jects as key areas of globalcompetitiveness. It also focus-es on SMEs/SMIs and on thecraft industry. Today the craftindustry has a strategic mediumto long-term outlook. Small-scale companies also have anoutlook.

WWhhaatt wweerree mmeeaassuurreess ttaakkeennssppeecciiffiiccaallllyy bbyy tthhee bbaannkk ttoo rree--ssttoorree sseeccuurriittyy aanndd rreeaassssuurree iinn--vveessttoorrss tthhaatt MMoorrooccccoo rreemmaaiinnssaa ssttaabbllee aanndd ssaaffee eennvviirroonnmmeennttttoo iinnvveesstt tthheeiirr mmoonneeyy??

We have a 30% market share,so we occupy an important po-sition in terms of indicators. Wetherefore decided to anticipatethe problems ourselves so thatour customers would not be indifficult situations.

We foresaw a reduction ofcost of risk but thankfully weare below our expectations. Thecost of risk at Attijariwafa bankis abnormally low, since the lev-el was 0.3%. At the internation-al level 0.3% is very low, and wewere expecting some 0.7%. Fi-nally we ended up with 0.5%,which is unusual in a period ofglobal financial crisis.

So, Attijariwafa bank negoti-ated a turn toward very goodconditions and our assets andactivities are improving ourprofitability even in times of cri-sis. The Attijariwafa bank Group

achieved a double-digit growthin economic and financial in-dicators. This was due to theproximity of our teams to ourclients, as well as to the devel-opment of products and ser-vices to help ailing industries.

We were the first to act along-side the government to imple-ment measures of the strategicmonitoring committee.

HHooww ddooeess yyoouurr bbaannkk hheellpp ssmmaallllaanndd mmeeddiiuumm--ssiizzeedd eenntteerrpprriisseess??

Attijariwafa bank owes itscurrent strength to small busi-nesses. Hundreds and hundredsof thousands have been thebackbone of Attijariwafa bankand will continue to take all thecredit in the year to come be-cause the country’s economicgrowth depends on it and that’swhy we have improved our of-fer. It is a complete package forthose small businesses becauseour economy revolves aroundmajor infrastructural projects,large companies, and SMEs.

There is a group of smallcompanies working on theirbehalf.

Then we came up with an in-novative technological formulain terms of cost and diversityof supply to assure businessesof our full support.

We support entrepreneursand private individuals.

There has been an unfortu-nate trend for years, whetherat the grocer’s on the streetcorner, the mechanic, the small

clothes factory or the devel-oper, everything hangs aroundone man or woman who usu-ally fails to separate their per-sonal finances from companyfinances.

So we designed a concept inwhich we advise them andtrain them on how to managea small business in the rightway.

HHooww iimmppoorrttaanntt iiss tthhee ffrreeee ttrraaddeeaaggrreeeemmeenntt wwiitthh tthhee UU..SS.. ttoo MMoo--rrooccccoo’’ss eeccoonnoommyy??

Since the first signing to date,in three years, we have doubledthe volume of trade betweenMorocco and the United States.We went from 11 billiondirhams ($1.3 billion) to 22 bil-lion dirhams between importsand exports. As banking insti-

tutions at the regional level, weseized this opportunity to con-clude a cooperation agreementwith Exim Bank. We have start-ed preliminary work together,which is to identify all compa-nies potentially interested inthe American market. It haslooked at every opportunityand has organized seminars, in-formation and training sessions.


‘Our assets and activities are improvingour profitability even in times of crisis’Mohamed El Kettani, CEO of Attijariwafa bank, provides an overview of Morocco’s banking sector

ATTIJARIWAFA BANK

Africa’s third largest bank focuses onindividual needs, country by country

Attijariwafa bank was createdin 2004 from the merger of twoof Morocco’s oldest lenders:Banque Commerciale duMaroc (BCM) and Wafabank.Both banks had more than acentury of banking activity in thecountry before the merger, andthe combination made it thebiggest bank in Morocco andthe third biggest in Africa.

The bank plans to continueto grow in its home market, buthas ambitious projects abroadas well. Attijariwafa bank seesAfrica as its natural market andwants to become the conti-nent’s lender of choice, while atthe same time making sure tohelp the region’s poorest andleast fortunate citizens to im-prove their lives.

“We have three statements:

To be the undisputed leader inMorocco, so we have not for-gotten Morocco,” says Mo-hamed El Kettani, CEO ofAttijariwafa bank. “The secondstrategy of our vision is to bethe reference banking and fi-nancial group incorporated inAfrica. Our third vision state-ment is that given our size wewant to be an active citizen andpromote social responsibility,which will be translated into thepromotion of education, be-cause Africa shares a commondenominator: ignorance and il-literacy. We therefore wish tocontribute to the fight againstilliteracy and ignorance.”

Attijariwafa bank is wellplaced to make a difference topeople around the continent byoffering them a wide variety of

banking services, and acting asa hub for investment betweenEurope, the U.S. and Africa.

“When we move into sub-Saharan Africa today, we donot want Casablanca to be thecenter,” Mr. El Kettani says. “Wetell our brothers in Africa: whenwe come to Gabon, we areGabonese. When we come toMali, we are Malian. When wecome to Tunisia, we areTunisian, etc. Each bank be-comes the center for its fellowmember, and it is that bank thatmust develop synergies withthe others.”

Of course, Attijariwafa bankisn’t only interested in makingmoney from Africans; it is alsodeeply involved in improvingtheir educational opportunitiesthrough its Attijariwafa bankFoundation. The organizationis involved in helping schoolsand students at every educa-

tional level, from primary up touniversity. The broad scope ofits efforts is a good reflection ofthe bank’s overall efforts to growin Africa and be a positive forceon people’s lives.

“For example in Cote d’Ivoire,there are 3 million neighbor-ing Burkinabés and about 2 mil-lion Malians. So if my affiliatesin Burkina Faso, Mali and Coted’Ivoire do not work togetherthere, we’ll miss out on 5 mil-lion potential customers. SoMorocco will never be the cen-ter. Each branch and each coun-try is the center for others andall must interact with our pres-ence in Europe because wehave a banking subsidiary calledAttijariwafa bank Europe,which is fully owned by thebank with a license from theBank of France and a Europeanlicense. We have 60 branchesin seven European countries.”

Subsidiaries of Morocco’s number one bank work togetheras a network of regional centers taking banking further

Attijariwafa bank has an overall 30% market share and has devised a program that helps small businesses, which form the backbone of the bank’s strength, better manage their operations

MOHAMED EL KETTANICEO of Attijariwafa bank

Distributed by USA TODAYTuesday, September 7, 201022 MOROCCOMOROCCO


Distributed by USA TODAY Tuesday, September 7, 2010 33

MOROCCO


One of the world’s best boursesThe high performing Casablanca Stock Exchange has seen a decade of growth and a raft of successful IPOs

Stock markets are an essentialpart of any economy, providinggrowing businesses with accessto plentiful, relatively inexpen-sive funding, and giving investorsa place to increase their capitalby harnessing a region or coun-try’s economic growth.

The Casablanca Stock Ex-change (CSE) has been one of theworld’s best performing bours-es for the past 10 years, with anannual average increase of about15%. The country’s economicgrowth has been a big contrib-utor to those rises, ashas a string of initialpublic offers (IPOs)that have boosted liq-uidity and marketcapitalization.

The CSE activelyseeks out IPOs in or-der to give the ex-change the kind ofliquidity necessarythat helps make it aneven more attractiveplace for foreign in-vestors. The bourse doesn’t lim-it its search to just Moroccancompanies, though, accordingto Karim Hajji, the CSE’s chief ex-ecutive officer. “We are also look-ing at having some IPOs from theAfrican region,” he says. “Ofcourse, they won’t be very largeIPOs, because we cannot allowtoo much foreign exchange flowout of the country, especially giv-en the current situation, but weare going in principle to go upto €100 million ($130 million) forIPOs in sub-Saharan Africa andwe’re going to go after that. If wewant to become a hub in thearea, we also have to favor IPOsfrom the region and become, Iwould say, a liquidity hub in theregion.”

One important part of theMoroccan All Shares Index, orMASI, are companies that wereformerly state-owned, or thatare now only partially state-

owned, after the governmentsold stakes in them to the pub-lic. Maroc Telecom, for example,was the subject of a very suc-cessful privatization in 2004 thatleft only 30% of the company stillowned by the state. The com-pany is the most heavily weight-ed share in the MASI, at 19.4%,and has already risen more than10% this year.

State-owned companies thatcould potentially be privatizedand join the exchange are MarsaMaroc, which operates the coun-

try’s port facilities, and GroupOCP, the world’s leading phos-phate rock and derivatives com-pany, according to Mr. Hajji.

“We rely a lot on the privati-zation program of the Moroccangovernment,” he says. “In ourmarket, it’s always the govern-ment that is giving the exampleand pulling the rest of the mar-ket up. That’s what happened in2004, when the market had someproblems: it was the privatiza-tion of Maroc Telecom whichhelped the market regain confi-dence and once more becomeactive.”

The government is doingmore than just selling stakes instate-owned companies to getmore companies listed on themarket. The tax code has beenchanged to encourage privatelyowned businesses to go public.Companies that increase their

share capital through an IPOcan get a 50% reduction in cor-porate tax, and companies thatsell already existing shares areeligible for a 25% reduction.

That incentive has been veryprofitable for the companies thattake advantage of it, but it alsohas advantages for the fiscal au-thorities, Mr. Hajji explains, be-cause companies that go publictend to be more profitable andare definitely more transparent.

“Companies which go publicbring in more money to the tax

authorities than com-panies that are notpublic,” he says. “Infact, the stock marketaccounts for a little bitover 20% of total cor-porate tax rate fullypaid by listed compa-nies and there are on-ly 77 of them. Thatgives you an idea ofthe magnitude of theprogress that can stillbe made.”

Making sure thatthere are enough interestingcompanies trading is only oneside of attracting investors to astock market. Another side ismaking sure that the exchangeis modern, easily accessible andtransparent enough to win overinvestors who might be wary ofsending their money to somecountries.

The CSE has an electronictrading system that was suppliedby NYSE Technologies, theworld’s leading provider of suchsystems. The Casablanca Ex-change is currently looking atupgrading the system to permitderivatives trading, which canstart when the parliament ap-proves a proposal to start a de-rivatives market.

The introduction of onlinetrading has also attracted manyinvestors. There are currentlyfour brokerage firms in Moroc-

co that offer this service, whichhas proven to be very popularand is helping fuel the growth ofindividual investors here.

Morocco’s brokerage housesare also contributing to the suc-cess and popularity of the ex-change. The firms are all veryefficient, and employ highlytrained brokers and other work-ers who have gone through verythorough training programs. Allthe traders on the CSE must havea degree.

The final important part of

the puzzle is the regulatory andbanking structure of Morocco.The country has a strong bank-ing system with an effective cen-tral bank that is also the financialsystem regulator, the Al MaghribBank.

Moroccan law permits theeasy repatriation of principal, in-terest and proceeds from equi-ty sales; foreign investors pay nocapital gains tax and there are nolimits on how much of a Mo-roccan company foreigners areallowed to own. All that, com-

bined with Morocco’s strategicgeographic position betweenEurope and Africa makes thecountry an ideal destination forU.S. investors, Mr. Hajji says.

“Morocco is a land of oppor-tunity for U.S. investors and avery good place to be, and to dobusiness with Europe,” he boasts.“Having a platform in Moroccofor exports to Europe for U.S.companies really makes a lot ofsense and the Casablanca StockExchange is here to enable suchcompanies to be listed here.”

Bank Al-Maghribensures liquidityand confidenceThe central bank has gone to great lengths to make

the banking sector strong, stable and trustworthy

Bank Al-Maghrib is Morocco’scentral bank, tasked with main-taining price stability and over-seeing the country’s financialsystem. Keeping price increasesunder control is an obsession atmost central banks, and in thisarea Al-Maghrib and its gover-nor, Abdellatif Jouahri, have ex-celled, helping maintain theinflation rate for 2009 under 2%,which is the same goal set by theEuropean Central Bank.

In fact, the inflation rate for lastyear came in at 1%, and this yearconsumer prices are expectedto rise less than 2% as well, a sit-uation that has permitted thecentral bank to relax its mone-tary policy and cut its bench-mark interest rate early last yearto 3.25%, the lowest since 2002.

During the past few years, Al-Maghrib has also safely usheredthe country’s financial institu-tions through the economic cri-

sis that shook much of the world.Al-Maghrib took several actionsto ensure the crisis wouldn’t bringdown any of Morocco’s banks,the governor explains.

“With respect to the financialand banking plan, we officiallyannounced that we will provideall liquid cash needed by thebanking sector on the money

market,” he says. “Having donethis, we set up a crisis monitor-ing unit to keep a close eye onthe banking sector. We domonthly reporting; we do followup on some of the sectors thathave experienced some difficul-ties. And we keep a keen eye onoutstanding credit status, whichmeans when debt repaymentsbecome difficult.”

The central bank also reducedthe reserve requirement forbanks several times last year, andonce more this year, to 6%, topermit lenders to inject moreliquidity into the economy. As aresult of these actions, Moroc-co’s banks are stable, financiallystrong and well managed,demonstrating very clearly howeffective the central bank hasbeen at overseeing lenders.

The effectiveness of Al-Maghrib is partly the result ofreforms undertaken in recent

years, and also partly from ef-forts by the bank to increase co-operation with foreign centralbanks, including the U.S. Feder-al Reserve and the ECB.

The Federal Reserve, for in-stance, sent a group to Moroc-co to help Al-Maghrib refine itscommunication policy, whichsignals to financial markets whatdirection economic growth, in-flation, and monetary policy arelikely to take in the near future.

Another area where the bankhas been working hard is in-creasing the number of Moroc-cans who use banking sectors,especially low and middle-in-

come Moroccans. At the end of2009, only an estimated 30% ofMoroccans were using bankingservices, excluding Post Officecounter operations.

Al-Maghrib has asked finan-cial institutions to work to in-crease that figure to 40% by theend of 2011 by making an effortto establish a good relationshipwith their clients based on mu-tual respect and trust. It has al-so set up a system to protectconsumers in the event a rela-tionship turns sour.

“We have put in place a sys-tem of national arbitration be-tween the banking sector and

the customers; it means minordisputes on a case involving forexample a maximum amount of100,000 dirhams ($11,840)should not forcibly be settledthrough the courts, but by the ar-bitrator,” Mr. Jouahri says.

To help gain Moroccans’ trustin the financial system, Al-Maghrib set up the system in away that makes sure consumersare favored over the banks. Thearbitrator’s decision is bindingon banks, but not on bank cus-tomers, thus permitting clientsthat aren’t happy with a deci-sion to then turn to the legalsystem.

The central bank set up a national arbitration system between banks and clients to help boost Moroccans’ trust in financial services

The modern, easily accessible and transparent CSE features an electronic trading system supplied by NYSE Technologies

‘MOROCCO ISA LAND OFOPPORTUNITYFOR U.S.INVESTORSAND A VERYGOOD PLACETO BE, AND TODO BUSINESSWITH EUROPE’KARIM HAJJICEO of the CasablancaStock Exchange

ABDELLATIF JOUAHRI,Governor of Bank Al-Maghrib


Distributed by USA TODAYTuesday, September 7, 201044 MOROCCOMOROCCO

The Banque Marocaine duCommerce Exterieur, or BM-CE, one of Morocco’s biggestbanks, celebrated its 50th yearin business in 2009. The lenderhad several reasons to cele-brate last year, though, in-cluding rising revenue and asuccessful strategy of expan-sion into other markets.

BMCE’s net banking incomefrom activities in Morocco rose25% in 2009 from the previousyear, to 3.6 billion dirhams($419.5 million), mainly as aresult of a 46.2% increase inrevenue from market opera-tions. Gross operating incomerose 14.3% to 1.1 billiondirhams ($128.2 million) in thesame period.

“These performances are theoffshoot of BMCE Bank’smarked dynamism in marketactivities and an improvementin the revenues of the clien-tele, which was obviously aid-ed by judicious positioning onthe private individuals’ andprofessionals’ markets,” saysOthman Benjelloun, BMCE’schairman and CEO.

The bank’s conservatism anddesire to ensure its financial sta-bility led it to more than dou-ble provisions in 2009 to 976.5million dirhams ($113.8 mil-lion), which led to a decline innet earnings of 37.6%, to 507million dirhams ($59.1 million).

The desire to maintain a sol-id financial footing led the bank

to increase its capital base by6 billion dirhams ($699 mil-lion) last year, through the saleof treasury shares to the CDG

Group, and a capital increaseto be subscribed by the CICGroup, the bank’s referenceforeign shareholder, thatshould raise the investor’s stakein BMCE to 25%. Likewise, thegroup intends to have a sec-ond capital increase, exclu-sively reserved for itsemployees.

The bank is now better pre-pared than ever to advance itschairman’s vision for the fu-ture. Mr. Benjelloun wants togrow BMCE Bank Group intoBMCE Bank of Africa withinthe next 50 years, with a pres-ence in every country on thecontinent.

BMCE is already well on itsway, with a presence in 22countries, more than 9,000 em-ployees worldwide, close to 2million active accounts in Mo-rocco, a domestic network ofmore than 560 branches, in-cluding 20 business centers,and one corporate branch, andmore than 600 automatedteller machines.

The CEO has already helpedbuild up BMCE and make it areference player in Morocco’scapital markets, investmentand advisory activities, alongwith giving it a strong posi-tioning in the corporate mar-ket. The lender sells more than170 different products and itsinsurance partner and refer-ence shareholder, RMAWatanya, is the country’sbiggest personal and techni-cal risk insurer.

BMCE Bank Group, anambitious multinationalWith over 50 years experience, the group is projecting itself into thefuture with technological innovation and unfailing social consciousness

BMCE BANK FOUNDATION

Mobilizing knowledge in the kingdom

BMCE Bank is the heart of amuch bigger Moroccan con-glomerate called FinanceCom,which owns assets in sectorsincluding insurance, telecoms,IT, media, and services, and hasambitious plans to expand in itshome country and around theentire African continent.

The goal of the group is to be-come an international hub or-ganization, joining togetherinvestors, depositors and bor-rowers from Africa, Europe,Asia and the Americas throughits extensive branch networkand its other, non-finance, units.

Among FinanceCom’s manyinvestments outside of the corebank business are Medi Tele-com, a telco that this yearreached 10 million clients; pri-vate equity unit Argan Invest;property managers Cap Estate;and Steria Medshore, anearshore services provider.

The group’s international op-erations include a presence in22 countries through its BM-CE Bank offices in Spain, Italy,

Germany, China, and severalAfrican countries, as well as itsBank of Africa subsidiaries. ItsMediCapital Bank in London,now dubbed BMCE Bank In-ternational U.K., obtained itslicense from the U.K.’s FinancialServices Authority in 2007, andsince then has built up a wellestablished banking platform.Its business lines include cor-porate banking, treasury andcapital markets and advisoryservices.

Through the diligent effortsof the group’s management,BMCE Bank has become thefirst bank in Morocco to re-ceive an investment grade rat-ing from Moody’s InvestorsService. The group has also re-ceived prizes for excellence infinancial communication andHR management.

The BMCE Bank Foundationwas started in 1995 by the bank’schairman, Othman Benjelloun,a former chancellor of the AlAkhawayn University in Ifrane,to improve the educational op-portunities of Moroccans.

The foundation, run by Dr.Leila Mezian Benjelloun, worksclosely with the Moroccan gov-ernment and other partners in-cluding national andinternational education institu-tions to implement its ambitiousand innovate projects.

Its “main mission is to pro-mote and develop the conceptof an integrated education in-tertwined with a sustainablecommunity development,” saysDr. Benjelloun. “The approach of

the foundation is based on part-nership, participation and de-centralization.”

The organization’s most im-portant project is called Meder-sat.com, which has set up a seriesof schools around the countrythat endeavor to help under-privileged children benefit morefrom the education system, part-ly through improved teaching

and access to better facilities, andpartly through improving the liv-ing conditions of the childrenand their families.

Helping women and girls isone of the main goals of the foun-dation and of Medersat.com.Half of the children attendingthe schools are girls, and 47% ofthe 370 teachers recruited forthe project are women.

One of the many innovativeprojects associated with theMedersat.com schools is a co-operative effort in partnershipwith the Principality of Monacothat has established income-gen-erating activities aimed at help-ing the women in certain villagesgain financial autonomy.

The projects have been so suc-cessful at improving the stan-dards of living of women in thevillages by creating favorableconditions for the emergence ofa culture of gender equality thatit will be extended throughoutthe network, Dr. Benjelloun says.

The BMCE Bank Founda-tion’s programs operate withthe complete agreement andcooperation of the public edu-cation authorities. It is fundedby BMCE Bank, which dedi-cates 4% of its gross operatingincome to the organization.Medersat.com, for example, hasalready received about $50 mil-lion from the foundation.

With enhanced coveragemechanisms branching outacross the continent, BMCEBank Group’s far-reachingdevelopment strategy isconsolidating its position

Through the Medersat.comprogram, BMCE shows itsongoing commitment tohelping widen rural accessto education for childrenand employment for women

BMCE BANK GROUP

A referencemodel for growthin Africa

The BMCE Bank Foundation’sMedersat.com program allowschildren from underprivilegedbackgrounds in rural areas tohave access to modern facilities,methods, and educational ma-terials, while also working toimprove other aspects of thelives of students, their families,and their communities.

“The objective of this pro-gram is to contribute to theelaboration and implementa-tion of an educational systemthat should serve as a real leverfor sustainable developmentthrough the implementationof an integrated educationalapproach in local communi-ties,” says Dr. Leila Mezian Ben-jelloun, the foundation’spresident.

This is done through the re-cruitment of teachers in ruralareas, their training and peda-gogical support, and the im-plementation of incomegenerating activities to fightagainst poverty while improv-ing basic drinking water and

electricity facilities in villageswhere the schools are located.

The program has been huge-ly successful so far, with 60schools already opened, in-cluding one in Senegal and onein Congo. That includes 136preschool units that have beenbuilt and equipped, 370 teach-ers recruited and trained, and12,000 students enrolled, halfof whom are girls.

EDUCATION

‘A real lever fordevelopment’

After more thanhalf a century ofoperations, BMCEBank is Morocco’sleading commercialbank. Chairmanand CEO of the BM-CE Bank Group,Othman Benjel-loun, has success-fully led thecompany throughturbulent financialtimes

BMCE Bank is present in 22 countriesincluding 14 in Africa

One of the foundation’s specific goals is to reduce illiteracy in rural areas

The basic concept behind the BMCE Bank Foundation isto integrate education with sustainable development


OTHMAN BENJELLOUN,Chairman and CEO of BMCE

DR. LEILA MEZIAN BENJELLOUNPresident of the BMCE Bank Foundation


Distributed by USA TODAY Tuesday, September 7, 2010 55

MOROCCO


MOROCCO

Credit Agricole du Maroc(CAM) has been deeply involvedin Morocco’s agricultural sectorsince it was founded in 1961.The lender has, since its creation,been the principal source of fi-nancing for farmers and for agro-business in general. As thecountry’s economy has openedup to foreign investment, CAMhas adapted and now considerspartnering with investors fromabroad to be its most importantactivity, says managing directorKarim Tajmouati.

“This is our core business," heexplains. “CAM is now the havenfor all the international investorswho want to invest in Morocco’sagriculture and agro-industry. In CAM, thefirst thing a foreign in-vestor seeks is a soundknowledge of the dis-tinctive features of theMoroccan market andthe expertise of bankersand financiers, teamswho deal with all fi-nancial operations. We carry outregular monitoring of interna-tional investors who are at the ex-ploration stage or ready to investin Morocco and, of course, forthose interested in our area of ac-tivity.”

Morocco’s agricultural sectorand CAM have benefited mu-tually from the government’sGreen Morocco Plan (GMP).The GMP is a program an-nounced in 2008 that has beeninvesting to make the country’sfarms more competitive andmake the nation self-sufficientin food supply. CAM is the offi-cial financier of the plan.

An important part of the GMPinvolves keeping small farms vi-able in a country where 40% of

the population works in agri-culture. The plan has already im-proved productivity and workconditions across Morocco.

“The Green Morocco project,which gave visibility to nationaland international operators, willhave positive impacts on 40% ofthe Moroccan population,” saysJamal Eddine El Jamali, CAM’ssecretary general. “This con-tributed both to the develop-ment of modern agriculture andsupport to small farmers. More-over, we have had excellent har-vests over the past three yearsthanks to a favorable climate; weforesee the implementation ofmany more projects and invest-

ments in this sector.This comes as a goodopportunity for thebank to fund these pro-jects.”

Though started asan agricultural bank,CAM has spent thepast 12 years spread-ing into other areas, in-

cluding financing craftsindustries and housing, eventu-ally becoming one of Morocco’sbiggest universal banks. The agri-culture sector remains its focusthough, and CAM has made animportant investment in tech-nology designed to help farmersby providing them with businessnetworks, information on pro-ject finance, and on agricultur-al statistics.

The bank also places majorimportance on promoting so-cial responsibility and culture,and on protecting the environ-ment. In January of this year,CAM created the Credit Agri-cole Foundation of Morocco forArts and the Rural Inheritanceto help raise the living standards

of rural populations. As part ofits efforts to improve the quali-ty of life in Morocco, the bank re-cently created a Direction ofFinancing of Sustainable Devel-opment to encourage energy ef-ficiency and the use of renewableenergy sources.

Another important way thatthe bank helps its clients, andthe country, is through the AR-DI Foundation, CAM’s micro fi-nance unit. It targets 40% ofMorocco’s farms that consist ofless than one hectare and whoseactivities include non-agricul-tural sources of income as well,such as crafts and trade.

CAM’s effort to reach out torural clients has seen the num-

ber of active clients rise from20,000 to 100,000 in three years,with a goal of doubling that by2013. The bank has gone from30 branches three years ago to200 now, 80% of which are lo-cated in rural areas.

“The vision of the bank is tobe a universal bank, but also tobe involved in a public servicemission,” says Mr. El Jamali. “Ourstructures allow us to supportthe GMP and to help ensure thatits impacts are effective on theground at all levels. Most im-portant is our interest and ourability to assess each categoryand see how we can effectivelyrespond to the financing needsof rural areas.”

Credit Agricole du Marocripens grassroots potentialCAM is intertwined with the nation’s agriculture sector and is the firstport of call for any international company looking at getting involved

GREEN MOROCCO PLAN

Financing small and medium-sized agricultural plantations

HHooww hhaass tthhee eeccoonnoommyy mmaann--aaggeedd ttoo aavvooiidd tthhee wwoorrsstt ooff tthheegglloobbaall eeccoonnoommiicc ccrriissiiss??

An economy such as ourscan in no way be completely in-sulated from what is happen-ing internationally given thatit is largely affected by whatgoes on in the European econ-omy. There are two facts thatcan explain this resilience. Thegovernment and major eco-nomic players in Morocco wereproactive and intelligently co-ordinated. The Ministry ofEconomy and Finance playeda very constructive role in con-ducting and structuring eachsector of the economy to thateffect. After one year, it is ob-vious that this effective reac-tion and management of thecrisis bore fruit. They suc-ceeded in significantly limitingthe negative impacts that wecould have suffered.

HHooww hhaass tthhee ffooccuuss oonn ddoommeess--ttiicc ddeemmaanndd hheellppeedd ssppuurrggrroowwtthh??

Morocco has proven to havea strong economy because it isan emerging economy. This isan economy that responds todomestic need, and throughsector-based activities in agri-culture, agro-industry, tech-nology, ICT, industry, tourism,etc. All of these plans offeredan unprecedented visibility toMorocco’s economic opera-tors, which have over the past10 years structured and devel-oped the Moroccan economy.The government continued to

efficiently play its role as an in-vestor. The various projects thatwere launched and which arenecessary for the moderniza-tion of the kingdom were main-tained. The ripple effect of thispolicy greatly contributed tomaintaining a momentum anda general climate of confidencefor the Moroccan economy.

CCaann yyoouu tteellll uuss aabboouutt tthhee iimm--ppoorrttaannccee ooff CCAAMM’’ss ssppeecciiaalliizzeedduunniitt iinn ggrreeeenn pprroojjeeccttss oonn tthheeaaggrriiccuullttuurraall sseeccttoorr??

We created an investmentbank, Holdagro, which is thefirst of its kind in the countryor even in the region. It is a mer-

chant bank that is specializedonly in green projects. It fo-cuses only on areas related toagriculture and agro-industry.It carries out all merchant bankactivities: it advises on projectstructuring, mergers, acquisi-tion, reconciliation, market ex-ploration, modernization, etc.This vast experience enablesCAM to combine its knowl-edge of the agricultural sectoraccumulated over the decadeswith the expertise of bankersand financiers.

Credit Agricole du Maroc’s(CAM’s) main business sectoris agriculture, so naturally thebank is deeply involved in pro-jects to develop Morocco’sfarms and food processing in-dustry. The Green MoroccoPlan announced in 2008 is theguiding program for the gov-ernment’s different projects tomake farming more produc-tive, and CAM is closely in-volved in most aspects of theinitiative.

“The GMP has a philosophyand the role of the CAM is inperfect response to it,” saysKarim Tajmouati, CAM’s man-

aging director. “This philoso-phy aims at combining themodernization and restructur-ing of agriculture in Morocco,and promoting socio-econom-ic development in the rural ar-eas.”

The GMP was started witha budget of 20 billion dirhams($2.34 billion) to be spent overfive years. One billion dirhamsis earmarked for rural micro-credit, another 5 billion dirhams($578 million) for the Agricul-tural Development FinancingAgency (SFDA), and the rest isfor use by several food net-works, including fruits and veg-

etables, cereals and legumes,sugar and fats, read meat andpoultry, fisheries, rural hous-ing, and rural tourism.

“The focus is not to makemoney but to fight povertythrough microfinance,” says Ja-mal Eddine El Jamali, secretarygeneral of CAM. “This is an es-sential social action and throughit we are able to help about 40%of the farming community.”

CAM is also a partner in in-ternational programs, includingthe Millennium Challenge Ac-count, a program started by theU.S. government to reducepoverty around the world. The

Millennium Challenge providesa large part of Morocco’s agri-cultural investment needs forproposals that meet the pro-gram’s criteria, with much ofthe rest of the funding provid-

ed by the farmers themselves. One ongoing project devel-

oped through the cooperationof CAM and the MillenniumChallenge is planting trees thatrequire a minimum of five years

to start bearing fruit. The pro-gram also finds ways for farm-ers to generate revenue in themeantime, so they can wait thenecessary years to reap the fruitof the trees.

Karim Tajmouati, CAM’sMD, highlights theimportance of agricultureon the economy andcombining agriculturaland banking expertise

In addition to its alliances with the government and the Millennium Challenge Account,CAM’s microfinancing helps fight poverty and aids around 40% of the farming community

INTERVIEW

‘Our investmentbank Holdagro isthe first of its kind’

IN JUSTTHREE YEARSCAM HASQUINTUPLEDITS NUMBEROF CLIENTSAND NOWHAS 200BRANCHES Although launched as an agricultural bank, and today 80% of its branches are in

rural areas, CAM has spent the past 12 years entering various other financial areas

CAM has funded a huge array of projects designed to modernize and diversify Morocco’s farming and food industries

KARIM TAJMOUATI, Managing Director ofCredit Agricole du Maroc


Distributed by USA TODAYTuesday, September 7, 201066 MOROCCO


The Ministry of Energy, Mines,Water and Environment’s pri-ority for several years has beento make Morocco less depen-dent on energy imports. Thedepartment aims to achievethis by seeking out resourceswithin the country, and bymaking citizens and industriesmore energy efficient, accord-ing to Amina Benkhadra, Min-ister for Energy, Mines, Waterand Environment.

“In addition to resource di-versification and renewableenergy development, priorityis given to energy efficiency inall sectors, whether in indus-try, construction, transport orcurrent consumption,” saysMrs. Benkhadra. “It seeks toassist all consumers, residen-tial and industrial, so they canlearn to consume less whileconsuming more.”

The National Hydrocarbonand Mining Company, or ON-HYM, is the part of the min-istry in charge of exploring andexploiting Morocco’s petrole-um and other mineral re-sources, with the exception of

phosphates. ONHYM is thestate organization that is em-powered to enter into part-nerships with national andinternational companies to car-ry out those functions.

ONHYM is currently in-volved in a partnership withPetrobras of Brazil and France’sTotal to set up a pilot plant toproduce electricity using Mo-rocco’s oil shale resources fromthe Timahdit deposit. Petro-bras is one of the world’s mostexperienced companies at ex-ploiting oil shale, having start-ed in the 1950s.

Another area ONHYM isexploring to reduce Morocco’senergy imports is the use ofnuclear power. In July of thisyear a framework agreementwas signed committing Franceto help Morocco prepare forstarting a civilian nuclear en-

ergy industry. Morocco has theworld’s largest phosphate de-posits, which contain urani-um that can be processed foruse to fuel nuclear plants.

Building a nuclear powerplant requires long-term plan-ning and preparation, but Mo-rocco has more immediateenergy requirements, and ON-HYM is already working onmeeting those needs. A 1,300-megawatt coal-powered plant,using some of the cleanest tech-nology available, is scheduledto begin production in 2014.Another 700MW of generating

capacity are also being addedto the Jorf Lasfar facility.

The ministry and ONHYMare very much in favor of usingrenewable energy. They haveplans to build a 1,550MW re-newable plant by 2012 that willmostly be powered by wind. Inthe medium-term, the govern-ment plans to take advantage ofMorocco’s sunny climatethrough a 2,000MW solar pro-ject that is scheduled to be com-pleted by 2020.

When all those projects arecompleted, by 2020, renewableenergy is planned to account for

42% of Morocco’s installed gen-eration capacity, with 14% com-ing from hydro-electric projects,14% from wind and 14% fromsolar: a strong demonstrationof the country’s commitmentto reducing hothouse gases.

“All energy, industrial, andother policies take climatechange into account,” says Mrs.Benkhadra, who is also ON-HYM’s managing director. “Weare working with the variousministerial departments to cuttons of CO2 through the use ofnew production practices to re-duce greenhouse emissions.”

Power generationpartnerships aimto maximizeresourcesONHYM, the National Hydrocarbon and MiningCompany, is focused on boosting both supply and efficiency

The Ksar, a group of earthen buildings surrounded by defensive walls, of Ait-Ben-Haddou near Ourzazate in southern central Morocco has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987 and features in several Hollywood movies, such as Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator

Renewable energy projects are planned to account for 42% of Morocco’s installed generation capacity by 2020, demonstratingthe country’s strong commitment to massively reducing its greenhouse gas emissions

TOURISM

MNTO targets new markets that are missing out

Morocco has been a destina-tion for travelers seeking exot-ic locales for more than acentury. Mark Twain visited thecountry in 1867, and extolledthe wild diversity of people andhistory on view in Tangier in hisbook The Innocents Abroad.

That diversity is present notjust in Tangier, of course. TheMoroccan National Tourist Of-fice (MNTO) has for years beenpromoting the incredibly wide

range of peoples, geographies,food, and historical monumentsthat are on offer throughout thecountry, destinations and ex-periences that make Morocco sospecial for visitors.

“What we can offer that oth-ers cannot offer, is a strong linkwith the Moroccan culture, theBerber culture, the traditions ofthe south in the Sahara, and theKasbahs,” says Abdelhamid Ad-dou, chief executive officer of

the MNTO. “This is our posi-tioning and that is why we cameout with a campaign that Mo-rocco can nurture the soul. On-ly authenticity and real culturecan nurture somebody’s soul.”

Since Twain’s visit more thana century ago, the importanceof the tourist industry in Mo-rocco has grown substantially,and it is expected to representabout 14% of gross domesticproduct this year. The govern-

ment has been promoting the in-dustry very actively for years,and one of its goals is to reach10 million tourists coming tothe country this year.

One of the ways the MNTOpromotes Morocco is throughits delegations to countries thatare major sources of tourism.There are delegations in France,Germany, the U.K., Spain, Italy,the U.S., Canada, Switzerland,Belgium, Austria, Sweden, andPortugal.

France, the U.K., Germany,and Spain are the four biggestsource countries for tourism toMorocco and now the MNTOis concentrating its efforts onattracting visitors from otherparts of the world.

“We cannot focus anymorein the traditional areas fromwhere we got most of our cus-tomers, i.e. Paris, London,Madrid, Barcelona areas, etc.,”says Mr. Addou. “We need togo to the regions, which is whywe have pushed a lot in termsof marketing to new regions inEurope and this has also broughtnew airlines, a new capacity.”

Europe’s low-cost airlines pro-vide an excellent way for enter-ing new markets, says the CEO.In the past year new routes thathave started up include Man-chester-Marrakech, Liverpool-

Agadir and Lyon-Agadir. Oth-er routes that are opening areDusseldorf-Agadir, Berlin-Mar-rakech and Moscow-Agadir.

The Scandinavian countriesrepresent another opportunity.In the 1970s and 1980s Moroc-co was a popular destination forpeople from the region, then thecountry lost ground to com-peting beach resorts such asSharm el Sheikh. The MNTO

hopes to win many Scandina-vians back by promoting Mo-rocco’s cultural options, inaddition to its sunny, sandybeaches.

The MNTO is also workingon attracting more Americanvisitors by offering them moredirect air routes from the U.S.,such as New York-Marrakech,which would complement thecurrent New York-Casablancaroute, and possibly direct flightsfrom Atlanta or Chicago.

“We need to have New York-Marrakech as a direct flight, es-pecially with all the new brandswe have in Marrakech,” Mr. Ad-dou explains. “It is somethingthat is key for American tourists.”

The MNTO is looking at oth-er, non-Western, markets as well.Middle Eastern countries suchas the United Arab Emirates andQatar, are a growing source oftourism to nearby countries,with an increasing number ofpeople from the region travel-ing to destinations such asMalaysia. They represent a nat-ural market for Morocco, ac-cording to Mr. Addou.

One way to attract new visi-tors is to emphasize the grow-ing availability of luxury resortsin Morocco, including a hotel inMarrakech that will open nextyear and be run by Park Hyatt,and another resort in the samecity run by Mandarin Oriental.

The Moroccan National Tourist Office is taking the nation’s tourism delights beyond its traditional European catchment areas to raise its profile around the world

‘MOROCCO CANNURTURE THE SOUL;ONLY AUTHENTICITYAND REAL CULTURECAN DO THAT’ ABDELHAMID ADDOUCEO of the MNTO

AMINA BENKHADRAMinister for Energy, Mines, Waterand Environment

The MNTO would like to see morevisitors sample Morocco’s culture


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