Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
December 1, 2012

The Future of Phosphate is in Morocco
Thursday November 29, 2012,   By James Wellstead

The dusty, sun-parched deserts of Central and Southwestern Morocco do not bring agricultural development to mind, but Morocco’s Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP) is playing a growing role in that sector. Already the world’s largest exporter of phosphate rock ore, Morocco is a growing player in the global phosphate industry. Its phosphate production is currently around 7 30 million metric tons, but is set to rise to about 55 million metric tons by 2020 following government investment.

OCP, which is 94-percent owned by the Moroccan government, holds a disproportionate share of global phosphate reserves (85 percent, or 50 billion metric tons) and has committed to investing upwards of $5 billion over the next decade to develop the infrastructure for new mines and wash plants. Beyond expanding its phosphate rock output, the Moroccan government is making significant investments to shift the industry toward beneficiation and fertilizer production.

With demand for phosphate rising 9 globally by 2.3 percent a year, OCP is looking to boost its 30-percent share in global exports while also capturing new demand as it comes online. To do so, it is investing in infrastructure, making legal reforms and attempting to secure international investment and trade.

Focus shifts to fertilizer production

OCP is aiming to become a world leader in phosphate fertilizer production, and is beefing up infrastructure investments with the intent of beneficiating and pelleting its phosphate reserves locally. In 2011, Denmark-based construction firm FLSmidth signed 10 a contract worth 90 million euros to help develop OCP’s Jorf Lasfar phosphate terminal, which is located 20 kilometers south of Casablanca. At that port, OCP will develop the world’s largest phosphate flash drying system.

In support of the port development program, Morocco also secured 11 an African Development Bank loan worth $250 million in May of this year. The loan will further support the beneficiation process, which will include “combustion systems, pelletizing, an air pollution control system including a limestone based flue gas desulphurisation system and a complete control package,” according 12 to FLSmidth.

Alongside the infrastructural development, the Moroccan government has been engaged with European, Middle Eastern and North American governments in bilateral and multilateral trade agreement negotiations aimed at ensuring market access for its evolving range of mineral and agricultural products.

Several trade agreements, including the Agadir Agreement with Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan; a Free Trade Agreement with the US; and the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement, are setting the groundwork for greater trade and investment within the country’s mining industry, which was worth 13 US$3.1 billion from 2006 to 2010.

Canada is also currently in engaged in negotiations with Morocco to boost trade between the countries. The two countries recently concluded 14 a third round of negotiations on a free-trade agreement aimed at allowing Canadian businesses to enter Africa’s fifth-largest market.

Additional reforms are also taking root through upcoming revisions to Morocco’s 60-year-old mining laws; the changes are intended to bolster international investment and increase transparency. However, in June Reuters reported 15 that the phosphates sector will not be included in the legal reforms.

Industry implications of Moroccan rise

The global impacts of Morocco’s evolving phosphate beneficiation capacity are not yet clear. PotashCorp of Saskatchewan (TSX: POT 16) believes access to raw materials is likely to decline because of these developments.

“As OCP brings on additional granulation capacity, allowing increased conversion of raw materials into DAP and MAP, its exports of phosphate raw materials are expected to decline,” Agrimoney quoted 17 the company as saying last year. That could cause problems for companies with existing phosphate beneficiation infrastructure and diminishing access to raw phosphate rock ore.

In September 2011, Canada-based Agrium (TSX: AGU 18) revealed plans to begin importing phosphate rock from OCP in 2013 after more than a decade of relying on its own mine.

While continued development of the 300 to 400 years of phosphate rock resources currently available to OCP will likely lead to a gross supply of material for export to companies like Agrium, phosphate prices will increasingly take their cue from Moroccan supply.

That could be a significant concern from a political stability point of view. While the Moroccan king has granted greater levels of authority to political parties in recent years, inequality and calls for autonomy continue to drive discontent and instability in the country. Last year, thousands of OCP workers walked off the job and blockaded 19 railway lines used to transport phosphate from the town of Youssoufia to chemical plants in the city of Safi over recent layoffs and wage complaints.

While the OCP rolled out massive youth employment campaign following the protests, unemployment and calls for autonomy will be factors to watch in the coming years.
http://potashinvestingnews.com/6590-future-phosphate-morocco-ocp-fertilizer-production-flsmidth-agrium-potashcorp.html
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Frustration in Morocco, a year after elections. 24 November 2012   AFP

Morocco's moderate Islamist Party of Justice and Development swept to power in historic elections last year in the wake of Arab Spring protests that brought hopes of change. But a year on, analysts say disappointment is growing at the slow pace of reform, compounded by doubts about how much power the palace has devolved and looming economic woes, with unemployed youths marching daily in the capital.

The PJD's triumph in the November 25 2011 poll followed constitutional changes introduced by King Mohammed VI to curb his near-absolute powers, and campaign pledges to tackle widespread poverty, endemic corruption and a lop-sided economy.

Those steps succeeded in hollowing out support for the February 20 protest movement, prompting party officials to hail a "third way" that delivered Morocco from political chaos and proved it was an "exception" in the region.

But scores of demonstrators have been jailed this year, amid international concerns about their confessions being obtained through torture, and police often employ violent tactics to scatter the protests by jobless graduates.

Diplomats say the democratic provisions of the new constitution have led to meaningful institutional changes. "Parliament is stronger and livelier, and has amended controversial legislation, while the National Human Rights Council is starting to deliver," said one Western diplomat in Rabat. "But there are large swathes of government business that are still influenced by the palace, and that continues to cause a lot of frustration among those who would like reform to move faster."

Abdelilah Benkirane, the Islamist leader of the coalition government formed in January, insisted last month that democracy in Morocco was advancing slowly but surely. The king, he said, "is the head of state and... therefore my boss."

All the signs suggest the king remains popular among Moroccans.

But the frustrations of the reformist camp, including over the pervasive interests in the economy of the monarch and his inner circle, the makhzen, are palpable. So too is the determination of the authorities to suppress any criticism of what has long been a taboo subject.

Security forces aggressively dispersed a protest outside parliament last Sunday against the king's proposed spending budget for 2013, of nearly 2.6 billion dirhams (234 million euros/$301 million), deemed extravagant by the demonstrators amid worsening economic hardship.

Unemployment remains stubbornly high, rising in the third quarter from 9.1 to 9.4 percent year-on-year, official figures showed, although the World Bank says the proportion of youths out of work is far worse at around 30 percent.

Prominent PJD sympathisers have started to raise their voices in criticism of the party, with politically active businessman Karim Tazi saying the electoral slogan of the PJD "All against corruption and absolutism" rings hollow today. But despite these perceived failings, the Islamists appear to have retained much of their grass-roots support, winning legislative by-elections in Tangiers and Marrakesh in early October.

Political scientist Mohammed Madani believes the party's lasting popularity is due to its clear desire to help ordinary Moroccans, many of whom accept that it is very limited in what it can do, and to the lack of viable alternatives. "I think people continue to support the PJD because they know the government doesn't have a free hand," he said.

PJD officials claim the steps taken to battle corruption as a key achievement, notably the lists it has published of those benefiting from privilege, through the awarding of public contracts, and the mechanisms set up to scrutinise accounts and prosecute offenders.

Communications Minister Mustapha Khalfi also proudly refers to the numerous spending projects targeting the marginalised sectors of society and mentions the plans to reform to Morocco's compensation fund.

The richest 20 percent, he points out, consume 43 percent of Morocco's costly state subsidies. "It's only been 10 months. In reality, we are working on and launching projects that have an impact on the daily lives of Moroccans. But at the same time there are challenges," Khalfi told AFP.

Others are less optimistic, saying corruption, economic hardship and social exclusion remain pressing problems in the kingdom. "At the moment we don't have any real, meaningful social and economic reforms, which means the problems are still there, and they are serious," said Madani. http://www.france24.com/en/20121124-frustration-morocco-year-after-elections
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Morocco Leading The World Toward A Green Energy Future

Morocco was the first country in the world to recognize the fledgling American Republic in 1777. Now, they are seeking clean energy independence and asking the world to join them in a green revolution.

This North African country, a constitutional monarchy about the size of California, has recently set a royal goal to ensure that 40 percent of its electricity demand is met from renewable energy sources by 2020. This is an extremely aggressive goal considering more than 90 percent of its current energy use is fossil fuel based and imported.

Astoundingly, with the cooperation of European and worldwide partners, Morocco has even grander plans to power itself entirely by renewable energy and potentially, in cooperation with other Northern African countries, export excess clean energy to Europe. With these aggressive goals, it shouldn’t be surprising that King Mohammed VI of Morocco isn’t afraid of what anyone thinks when he talks about the reality of climate change. And talk he does.

In a message to world participants at the September 2102 conference in Morocco,  Energy Challenges in the Euro-Mediterranean Region, King Mohammed said: “Convinced of the vital importance of protecting and preserving the environment, and having realized at an early stage—thanks to its geographical location—the potential impact of climate change, my country resolutely opted for sustainable development which, needless to say, goes hand in hand with human development.”

In 2009, King Mohammed announced at a ceremony attended by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a $9 billion solar project with the target of creating 2,000 megawatts of renewable power by 2020. According to the Moroccan Minister of Energy and Mining at the time, Amina Benkhadra, the “massive project” will combine economic and social development with environmental protection and efforts to tackle climate change. “The project will reduce energy imports by saving the equivalent of a million tonnes of oil per year and help protect the environment by cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 3.7 million tonnes annually,” said Benkhadra.”

Morocco’s foray into its green future started small, with encouragement of individual solar systems on homes, especially in remote areas with no power. The country rightly understood the importance of localized sources of power generation and micro grids. It was only in 2007 when Morocco installed its first, small 50 kilowatt photovoltaic power plant in Tit Mellil. Then things got on a roll. In 2007, Morocco installed 200,000 square meters of solar water heating panels. In 2008, a combined cycle solar and thermal plant of 427 megawatts was established. But, all this was just the tip of a huge wave of renewable activity which has positioned Morocco to be a major geopolitical player in renewable energy.

In 2010, the largest wind farm in Africa, consisting of 165 turbines, was inaugurated in northern Morocco. Clean Technica reported in October 2012, that a new memorandum of understanding was signed between the Moroccan government and the Desertec Foundation, a German based entity, to strengthen plans to build a massive series of solar power plants in the northern part of Morocco. These plants will supply not only power for Morocco, but also feed clean energy to Europe via high voltage direct current transmission lines.

“Morocco is a not just a visionary in the region, but also a successful pioneer in the global transition to renewables,” said Dr Thiemo Gropp, director of the Desertec Foundation.

In a  Clean Technica article,   Morocco Stays Renewable Energy Course Amidst Arab Spring, it notes that, “also vital to the renewable energy/energy efficiency strategy’s success and job creation, Morocco is investing in building out a modern electricity grid and distribution lines. These are key to the government’s plans to export green energy to Europe.”

The green headway Morocco is making shows the vital importance of strong leadership.

A  Forbes article,  Is Morocco the Mediterranean’s Green Energy Savior?, states that Fouad Douiri, Morocco’s newly appointed Minister of Energy, Mines, Water and the Environment, cited a series of laws passed in 2009. The legislation provided the foundation and grid support for the country’s renewable efforts, including the creation of the National Agency for Renewable Energy Development and Energy Efficiency and the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy.

King Mohammed and his government understand that being energy independent is not just about national security, it’s also about bettering the lives of the citizens in the process, protecting a fragile environment, creating jobs and educating the youth.

With an eye toward protecting air and water quality and not just developing energy security, in 2010 Morocco introduced a “green tax” for polluters.

“Although the cost of solar energy is still high, this source of renewable energy opens up promising, strategic prospects since state-of-the-art technologies in this field are readily available … In addition to generating electricity, this energy sector provides a basis for green growth in addition to contributing to economic and social development. It should also enable our country to sharpen its industrial competitive edge and help us encourage development-oriented scientific research and technological innovations, sensitize our young people about civic environmental values and promote optimal use of alternative energy sources,” explains King Mohammed.

On Nov. 12, the Moroccan King announced the creation of a “green city” which has at its heart a university which includes a focus on sustainable development and clean technology. This creative and bold initiative is similar to the visionary green city cum university, Masdar, that is in the works in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Granted, Morocco, unlike the U.S. and some of the neighboring, oil rich countries like Libya, is not blessed with fossil fuel riches. So, obviously, they are not able to develop an energy security plan that relies on fossil fuels. Nonetheless, they are showing larger, wealthier and more powerful countries that with vision and leadership they can modernize and develop themselves sustainably, without fossil fuels.

The fact that Morocco, a country with a GDP of 100.22 billion dollars, an economy much smaller than the state of California—$1.9 trillion economy, the 8th largest GDP in the world), has manged to move so far so fast is a lesson for us all. Interestingly, many thought California’s renewable energy mandates were unrealistic when in 2011 it set a goal of achieving renewable electricity generation of 33 percent by 2020. The  LA Times reported after Governor Jerry Brown signed the legislation, “the new law, known as a renewable portfolio standard, is the most aggressive of any state. Several attempts to introduce a federal version have stalled in a divided and preoccupied Congress.”

But, the naysayers who doubted that California could do what it set out to accomplish are being proved wrong. The Natural Resources Defense Council reported in  California Utilities Exceed Renewable Power Goals, “at a time when there’s plenty of disheartening news about the environment, yesterday’s report that California is continuing to make rapid progress toward its goals for clean, renewable power generation is reason to cheer. The California Public Utilities Commission’s progress report shows that the state’s three largest private electric utilities—Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric—have met the renewable portfolio Sstandard goal of 20 percent of renewable energy from 2011-2013—and are on track to surpass that milestone this year en route to achieving the mandated one-third share by 2020.”

Disappointingly, the U.S. government, unlike Morocco and an increasing number of other countries around the world, has not passed a federal renewable portfolio standard. However, most U.S. states across the country are moving in the direction of clean energy with 38 states setting Renewable Portfolio Standards or at least having renewable energy goals.

According to  Reuters, the Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said this month that the German government remained committed to expanding its renewable energy capacity and would strive to coordinate policies better with the country’s 16 states. Further, Merkel and state leaders told reporters that better coordination would help Germany achieve its goal of getting 40 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, up from 25 percent currently.

With Morocco managing to address local environmental concerns, develop a resilient energy security program and connect to a larger world energy strategy in such a short time, hopefully it will inspire policy makers around the world. The accomplishments in Morocco are especially important for American politicians to consider as they weigh the merits of continued extreme fossil fuel extraction, including approving the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, fracking and offshore oil drilling.

America should recognize Morocco’s achievements and join them on a path toward a clean, peaceful green energy world.
http://earthtechling.com/2012/11/morocco-leading-the-world-toward-a-green-energy-future/2/
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Former French colony of Morocco has much to recommend: stable government, good roads, beautiful architecture, exotic locales: Be sure to check out the food stalls of Djemaa el Fna, Majorelle Garden, the Atlas Mountains and coastal city of Essaouira
By David Latt / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS  Published: Sunday, November 25, 2012,

The donkey carrying Coca-Cola canisters came out of nowhere. He would have blindsided us for sure. Luckily, we were pressed against a glass display case to get a better look at the loaves of freshly baked flatbread. The swirling soda cans just missed us as the donkey’s owner tugged him through a crowd of scattering pedestrians in the souk’s narrow walkway.

Anyone who’s been in a traditional souk in the Middle East or North Africa will tell you the experience can be a bit, well, intense. It’s a Walmart blown up into little bits and pieces. But instead of neatly laid out departments, merchants are jammed cheek-by-jowl in a labyrinth permeated by foreign voices and exotic smells.

Next to Marrakesh’s main square, Djemaa el Fna, our group meandered between the stalls in a centuries-old souk within the old city during a week-long visit to Morocco in September. The maze of busy, narrow alleyways, crisscrossed and dead-ended without warning. Noisy motorbikes chased away the disturbingly large population of cats. Our only guidepost was the magnificent Koutoubia Mosque, an elegant, 22-story square tower completed at the end of the 12th century…………….
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/morocco-offer-international-traveler-article-1.1206033#ixzz2DKLYATta
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African Migrants in Morocco Tell of Abuse
By AIDA ALAMI November 28, 2012 RABAT, Morocco

A long car ride north of the center of Morocco’s capital, Rabat, behind a market and through a maze of narrow alleys in a densely populated northern suburb, Takadoum, is a crumbling building. Here, illegal sub-Saharan migrants share tea and swap stories of assault, rape and daily encounters with hostility.

At a gathering in October on the roofless terrace of the building, a couple of dozen illegal migrants sat on a mattress or on little stools beneath a blue plastic sheet to protect them from the rain, and shared harrowing accounts of their lives in Morocco.

The Moroccans think  “they can do whatever they want to us,” said one migrant from Niger who asked not to be named out of fear for his safety. “The police rip off our identity cards and arrest us and people hold their noses when they see us.”

There are an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 illegal sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco, according to an organization called the Anti-Racist Group to Defend Foreigners and Migrants, or Gadem, from its French name……….
Read more here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/29/world/middleeast/african-migrants-in-morocco-tell-of-abuse.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
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Morocco: Transparency Move Draws Criticism
By Siham Ali, 27 November 2012 Rabat

An effort by authorities to increase transparency is catching flak from some Moroccan lawmakers. Morocco recently released the names of sand quarry licence holders in a bid to boost transparency. But the November 12th move by Infrastructure Minister Aziz Rebbah stirred a heated debate over efforts to clean up the business of government and tackle the rentier economy.

While some people have praised what they see as the bravery of the current government, which published the list of transport license holders a few months ago, others said that this latest measure would not change the sector. Rebbah argued that publishing the list of sand quarry operators would boost transparency. He said that both the public and the media made pressing demands for access to the information.

The list publication was intended as a first step towards the planned reforms of the sector, which will soon be launched in partnership with industry figures. The aims, Rebbah said, are to streamline the operation of quarries, tackle the phenomenon of companies drawing unearned rents and also to protect the environment by adopting specifications with clear procedures.

Industry figures have called for vigilance. David Toledano, the president of the Building Materials Federation, said that a distinction must be made between unruly operators which are merely taking advantage of the system and operators which make big investments in quarries, pay taxes and look after the environment.

The opposition has been critical of the government. MP Larbi Lhabchi said that publishing the list of license-holders without taking any further measures would achieve little in the fight against corruption and the rent-based economy. He said that a comprehensive strategy of transparency and running the economy in an ethical way needs to be adopted.

Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane has said that the government should not be criticised for choosing to make things transparent by publishing the lists of transport and sand quarry licence-holders as the public has a right to access to this information.

Slimane Amori, a political analyst, commented that although transparency is indeed a matter of great concern to the public, the government's decision should be backed up by concrete action, otherwise it will prove to be nothing more than a publicity gimmick.

Amori said that the government has opted to unveil the list of sand quarry operators at this particular time in order to deflect attention away from other current issues, such as social discontent and the discussions over the 2013 finance bill.

Many members of the public have welcomed the decision to publish the list of sand quarry operators and hope that from now on, the authorities will adopt objective criteria which serve the interests of the nation. That was the view of Maha El Maaroufi, a student. She said that for years, relationships between the government and companies have been shrouded in secrecy and characterised by patronage and that it was time to adopt an approach based on equal opportunity. This, she argued, can only be done by using very specific criteria when granting licences in order to achieve transparency. http://allafrica.com/stories/201211281482.html
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Seven decades after the premiere of the film classic "Casablanca," the Moroccan port city remains firmly associated in many people's minds with the movie, even though Rick's Cafe Americain, where much of the story took place, was a pure creation of Hollywood.

"Casablanca," a story of love and intrigue during World War II, premiered Nov. 26, 1942. Today, the city is a vibrant, noisy metropolis of 4 million people and Morocco's commercial capital, nothing like the wartime colonial outpost depicted in the iconic movie, which starred Humphrey Bogart as Rick. But a trip through the city's swanky lounges and dive bars can still evoke the spirit of the cafe from the movie. There's even a real-life Rick's Cafe here, founded by an American expat………

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/26/casablanca-morocco-nostal_n_2191373.html
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