Morocco: Developing SME's as an engine for growth.
Morocco’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been the target of a broad set of initiatives in recent years by a variety of public and private institutions to help improve SME access to funding and capacity building.The access to funding by banks is still limited because of the security required.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Morocco-Develop...
SMEs, are defined by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry as businesses employing less than 200 people with a maximum turnover of Dh50m (€4.5m). They are a major engine of the economy and currently account for around 93% of all registered businesses, 46% of employment and 38% to GDP.Their overall contribution in terms of added value to the economy represents only 20%, due mainly to lack of financing and bureaucratic hurdles.
Credit granted to Moroccan SMEs accounts for just 24% of total domestic loans, local media reported in May.
Following a recent conference in Casablanca, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced a plan to establish a new lending initiative, via local lenders, to improve access to credit for smaller firms by July.
As part of a broader €2.5bn campaign, the EBRD will lend money to local financial institutions operating in the private sector, which will then in turn lend money to SMEs. The bank has also announced it plans on providing venture capital to SMEs as a way of boosting financing, while at the same time providing advice, and improving back office functions, according to Oford Busieness Group.
The PNB NAPEO conference in Marrakech on entrepreneurship in January this year stressed the need to develop small businesses run by young entrepreneurs as a crucial element of the economy as the growing financial restrictions prevent public sector employment. PNB NAPEO provides a network of advice for entrepreneurs. It was stressed the need to develop new opportunities for aspiring young professionals with simplified legal procedures and facilitating access to financing.
American government officials announced $4 million program to allow aspiring young entrepreneurs in the Maghreb to finance their projects but this is Maghreb wide, not only in Morocco.
The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and New Technologies launched two programmes which are designed to enable SMEs to obtain financial and advisory assistance.
The National Agency for SME Promotion, (ANPME ) was tasked with implementing the Moussanada and Imtiaz programmes which together account for roughly Dh1bn (€90.4m) worth of expenditures
The Imtiaz programme aims to provide direct financial support from the government to cover 20% of the total investment with a maximum ceiling of €445,572. In 2011, 47 projects benefitted from Imtiaz funding for a total investment of more than €89.11m.
It is described on the ANPME website as a national competition for investment, for companies with a project they want to develop and wishing to benefit from investment incentives which are both tangible and intangible corresponding to 20% of the total investment. The Imtiaz premium can reach 5 million Dhs.
"The State undertakes, in the Program Imtiaz, to proactively support the companies selected on the basis of a contract growth, through the granting of a premium to tangible and intangible investment corresponding to 20% of the total investment and a maximum of 5 million dirhams. Recipients must provide at least in equity, 20% of the total investment. Selection will be through a national competition for investment."
APNME says that Moussanada is a program to support SMEs for 60% of the cost and a total support of up to 1 million dirhams.
By the end of 2011, 341 businesses, mostly in Casablanca, benefitted from the Moussanada programme, and the ANPME announced in January that it planned to support another 500 enterprises in 2012. Moussanada focuses primarily on providing tools and guidance for SMEs in developing both strategy and organisation, as well as boosting their capacity for production processes,design, and research and development on an industry-specific level according to Oxford Business Group (OBG).
These projects are expected to generate an additional turnover of €1.36bn over the next five years and create more than 4,500 new jobs.
The private sector has also endeavoured to support SME's by neworking with local financial institutions, as evidenced by the recent renewal of the SME support initiative from Groupe Banque Populaire (GBP) and the Moroccan Business Alliance (la Confédération Générale des Entreprises du Maroc, CGEM) to provide advice and training, OBG says.
SME's are responsible for 90 per cent of GDP in Morocco and 92 per cent of all companies are SME's, but many are often very small family run businesses.
Morocco still has some way to go in developing a truly all embracing entrepreneurial private sector accessible to more young people starting up a business for the first time .
Banks are still reticent to lend without collateral and in the present economic climate this is unlikely to change in the near future. Yet the government has realised that entrepreneurship is a key element in growing the economy and finding jobs for young people is top priority in a country where youth unemployment in cities aiverages 30 per cent.
These schemes are targetting the right areas and will no doubt yield more promising developments with the young IT savy community.
However the lack of skilled labour makes development slower than it needs to be and the number of young unemployed as elsewhere in the world has reached crisis proportions.
Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane has asked Parliament for more time to tackle the many problems facing Morocco's economy and there are no easy solutions. The economic weakness of the Eurozone which has been Morocco's chief export partner has exacerbated the situation of declining growth. The source for this article is Oxford Business Group
Credit granted to Moroccan SMEs accounts for just 24% of total domestic loans, local media reported in May.
Following a recent conference in Casablanca, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced a plan to establish a new lending initiative, via local lenders, to improve access to credit for smaller firms by July.
As part of a broader €2.5bn campaign, the EBRD will lend money to local financial institutions operating in the private sector, which will then in turn lend money to SMEs. The bank has also announced it plans on providing venture capital to SMEs as a way of boosting financing, while at the same time providing advice, and improving back office functions, according to Oford Busieness Group.
The PNB NAPEO conference in Marrakech on entrepreneurship in January this year stressed the need to develop small businesses run by young entrepreneurs as a crucial element of the economy as the growing financial restrictions prevent public sector employment. PNB NAPEO provides a network of advice for entrepreneurs. It was stressed the need to develop new opportunities for aspiring young professionals with simplified legal procedures and facilitating access to financing.
American government officials announced $4 million program to allow aspiring young entrepreneurs in the Maghreb to finance their projects but this is Maghreb wide, not only in Morocco.
The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and New Technologies launched two programmes which are designed to enable SMEs to obtain financial and advisory assistance.
The National Agency for SME Promotion, (ANPME ) was tasked with implementing the Moussanada and Imtiaz programmes which together account for roughly Dh1bn (€90.4m) worth of expenditures
The Imtiaz programme aims to provide direct financial support from the government to cover 20% of the total investment with a maximum ceiling of €445,572. In 2011, 47 projects benefitted from Imtiaz funding for a total investment of more than €89.11m.
It is described on the ANPME website as a national competition for investment, for companies with a project they want to develop and wishing to benefit from investment incentives which are both tangible and intangible corresponding to 20% of the total investment. The Imtiaz premium can reach 5 million Dhs.
"The State undertakes, in the Program Imtiaz, to proactively support the companies selected on the basis of a contract growth, through the granting of a premium to tangible and intangible investment corresponding to 20% of the total investment and a maximum of 5 million dirhams. Recipients must provide at least in equity, 20% of the total investment. Selection will be through a national competition for investment."
APNME says that Moussanada is a program to support SMEs for 60% of the cost and a total support of up to 1 million dirhams.
By the end of 2011, 341 businesses, mostly in Casablanca, benefitted from the Moussanada programme, and the ANPME announced in January that it planned to support another 500 enterprises in 2012. Moussanada focuses primarily on providing tools and guidance for SMEs in developing both strategy and organisation, as well as boosting their capacity for production processes,design, and research and development on an industry-specific level according to Oxford Business Group (OBG).
These projects are expected to generate an additional turnover of €1.36bn over the next five years and create more than 4,500 new jobs.
The private sector has also endeavoured to support SME's by neworking with local financial institutions, as evidenced by the recent renewal of the SME support initiative from Groupe Banque Populaire (GBP) and the Moroccan Business Alliance (la Confédération Générale des Entreprises du Maroc, CGEM) to provide advice and training, OBG says.
SME's are responsible for 90 per cent of GDP in Morocco and 92 per cent of all companies are SME's, but many are often very small family run businesses.
Morocco still has some way to go in developing a truly all embracing entrepreneurial private sector accessible to more young people starting up a business for the first time .
Banks are still reticent to lend without collateral and in the present economic climate this is unlikely to change in the near future. Yet the government has realised that entrepreneurship is a key element in growing the economy and finding jobs for young people is top priority in a country where youth unemployment in cities aiverages 30 per cent.
These schemes are targetting the right areas and will no doubt yield more promising developments with the young IT savy community.
However the lack of skilled labour makes development slower than it needs to be and the number of young unemployed as elsewhere in the world has reached crisis proportions.
Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane has asked Parliament for more time to tackle the many problems facing Morocco's economy and there are no easy solutions. The economic weakness of the Eurozone which has been Morocco's chief export partner has exacerbated the situation of declining growth. The source for this article is Oxford Business Group
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Morocco-Develop...