Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
July 28, 2007

Morocco's non-agricultural GDP up 5.4% in Q1 2007.
Rabat, July 25

Morocco's non-agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 5.4% in the first quarter of 2007, compared to the same period in 2006. According to the High Commissioner for Planning (HCP), the GDP is expected to reach 5.6% in the third quarter of the year, which will increase the global economic growth by 1.9%. Despite its slowdown compared to 2006, household consumption continues to support national growth in this period, said the same source. HCP ascribed this increase to job market improvement, tax cut, consumer credits consolidation and a moderate inflation of 2.1% in 2007 against 2.9%in 2006. In the first quarter of 2007, budget expenses flared up 29,6 %, compared to the same period in 2006 due to the consolidation of functioning and investment costs.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/morocco_s_non-agricu2867/view
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Graft cases soaring in Morocco: Moroccan courts record nearly 50 percent increase in number of corruption cases.
RABAT

Graft cases before Moroccan courts have gone up by nearly 50 percent in 2006 over the previous year, Justice Minister Mohamed Bouzoubaa said Wednesday. The minister said the number of corruption cases in court had shot up to 5,891 from 3,948 in 2005, adding that legal action "is one of the priorities in the ministry's action plan to fight this phenomenon." Morocco last year dropped to 79th place in a list of 163 countries ranked by Transparency International over their levels of corruption. In 2002 it had occupied the 52nd position.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=21552
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Morocco tackles corruption as transparency ratings fall.
26/07/2007

The number of corruption-related cases processed by Moroccan courts increased nearly 50% last year, Justice Minister Mohamed Bouzoubaa said Wednesday (July 25th). Moroccan courts handled 5,891 such cases in 2006, as compared to 3,948 the previous year, he said. The surge in prosecutions is part of a government programme to reduce corruption. According the NGO Transparency International, Morocco's corruption perception ranking has deteriorated in recent years dropping from 52nd position in 2002 to 79th in 2006. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2007/07/26/newsbrief-04
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New study indicates 93,000 families live in Casa shantytowns.
26/07/2007

A new study conducted by Morocco's Ministry of Housing and Reconstruction revealed that 93,000 families live in shantytowns in Casablanca, a figure 32.8% higher than official estimates. Casablanca's shantytown suburbs gained the government's attention following bombings in May 2003 and March and April 2007, whose perpetrators came from a shantytown in the Moulay Rachid district. Moroccan media have highlighted residents' living conditions in the shantytowns and described them as 'belts of misery'. In order to eliminate Casablanca's shantytowns, the state established a special company called Idmaj Sakan.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2007/07/26/newsbrief-07
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Some 300K children are non-schooled, dropouts in Morocco, study.
Rabat, July 26

Over 300,000 children are dropouts or have never been to school in Morocco, revealed, here Thursday, the Secretariat for Literacy and non-Formal Education. Presenting this study, the State Secretary for Education and non-Formal Education, Anis Birou said the latter provides with data on children dropout and non-schooling, their families' social and economic conditions as well as the factors facilitating their re-schooling.

"This data allow a better diagnosis in schools and communes that are in need of a fast and integrated intervention," he noted, adding that this UNICEF-led initiative seeks to mobilize students, teachers, employers, local communes as well as civil society, at the local, regional and national level, concerning the right to education and to highlight the factors of non-schooling and school dropout. Mr. Birou recalled the setting up of a follow-up study of school dropout through the creation of the "priority schooling project", which aims to build up a geographical mapping of the school dropout phenomenon.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/some_300k_children_a/view
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Slum-free city program benefited 280,000 families, Ministry.
Rabat, July 26

Some 280,000 Moroccan families and 83 cities have benefited from the slum-free city program (known by its French acronym VSB) since its launch in July 2004, at a global cost of some USD 2.5Bn, revealed the Moroccan Housing Ministry on Wednesday. In its activity report, the ministry noted that this program enabled a total of 400,000 Moroccans to improve their housing conditions, and that 76% of the housing projects has been implemented over the 1999-2007 period. The same document adds that the global housing program provides for building 576,262 housing units on an area of over 15,000 ha, worth some USD 6Bn.

The program, the same source goes on, consists of the "slum-free city program" which provides for building 185,567 housing units, the fight against indecent housing (90,000 units), the urban qualification (180,731) and the promotion of social housing (209,094 units). The VSB program provides for destroying 25,000 shantytowns a year. It aims to benefit, by 2010, 257,000 households of relocation operations and declare 75 cities as slum-free cities.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_social/slum-free_city_progr/view
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Programme addressing housing shortage continues in Morocco.
By Sarah Touahri  22/07/2007

The Moroccan Ministry of Housing recently announced the second phase of its Dar Lakbira programme to stimulate growth and stability in its real estate and housing sectors. The new phase will build 12,000 new homes and provide investment opportunities to residents of all income levels. In a bid to address Morocco's housing shortage and improve the quality of architecture, the Ministry of Housing recently launched the second phase of the Dar Lakbira programme, with co-operation from the Al Omrane group, Morocco's leading property development agency.

The project will see the construction of 12,000 new homes in 34 locations across the country, as a follow-up to the first phase in 2006 that yielded 30,000 new homes. The project is also intended to encourage private investment in property development and to stimulate growth in real estate enterprises.

In a July 9th press statement, Minister of Housing Toufiq Hijra said that Dar Lakbira represents an attempt to combat real estate speculation, by making land available to individuals (singly, in groups or in families), partnerships, and in particular to people aspiring to become real estate developers. The aim, Hijra announced, is to encourage young people to get into property development and to increase the number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the sector. More emphasis will be placed on Moroccans living abroad, with a quota of 20% of plots of land being reserved for them.

The programme will make fully serviced, ready-to-build plots available to buyers with support provided throughout the term of the scheme, such as credit facilities tailored to suit the pocketbooks of all buyers, with repayments spread out over the duration of the construction programme. It will also facilitate access to bank loans underwritten by the Al Omrane group and provide administrative, technical and management support during all stages of the development process.

The Ministry of Housing hopes the initiative will put an end to property speculation, whereby people buy land for the purpose of selling it a few years later to earn a profit, a practice which has driven property prices consistently upwards.

The first phase of the scheme ran into difficulties which affected the success of its initial aim, which was to help people with savings buy homes. Most people who bought plots did not do so for personal use. Some of them sold them after construction and others keept them for speculation purposes. To get around this problem, the ministry reviewed the application procedure and successful applicants are now obliged to respect the terms of their contracts. Mohamed El Kerdoudi, a member of the Al Omrane board of directors, believes equal opportunities are one of the most important principles underpinning the scheme. "Equality in implementation is the most important factor," he said.

The Dar Lakbira initiative has drawn widespread praise from the public and will offer a wide range of repayment terms. Samia Lachhab, a teacher, told Magharebia she would be keen to buy a plot with the intentions of building a private school. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2007/07/22/feature-02
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Morocco's central bank warns of rising debt.
22/07/2007

A report issued by Morocco's central bank warned of high levels of personal debt, which has increased in recent years due to low interest rates, fierce competition among banks and the state's promotion of mortgages. The report indicated that personal debt in Morocco amounted to 116 billion dirhams (USD 14.5 billion) at the end of 2006. The report said the number of mortgages to Moroccan families increased 26% in 2006 and totals 66.5 billion dirhams. The number of consumer loans increased 20% that same year, totalling 45.5 billion dirhams. The bank recommended that Morocco's banks be cautious about increasing levels of personal debt in the country, and highlighted the risks of variable interest rate loans which affect borrowers' ability to meet their repayment obligation if interest rates rise. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2007/07/22/newsbrief-04
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Morocco eyes integration into world markets.

Morocco is set to make it easier for local businesses to hold assets in foreign currencies and lend money to export clients from August.
The move comes as part of long-term plans by the country to integrate its strengthening economy into world markets. Moroccan Finance Minister Fathallah Oualalou said the government would allow companies to hold 50 percent of their export income in foreign currencies, up from 20 percent previously, reducing their currency risks and foreign exchange costs.

Banks will be able to hold a greater variety of investments abroad for longer, the maximum length of currency hedging instruments will be increased to five years from one year and a broader range of hedgable transactions will be allowed, Oualalou said at a press conference in Rabat.
Insurers will no longer need authorization to place 5 percent of their assets abroad and OPCVM savings funds will be allowed to place 10 percent of their portfolios in foreign financial markets, among other measures.

The government has reined in public borrowing in recent years, tax income has been strengthened by higher private investment and non-farm growth, while reforms have made the country's financial sector more robust. That has allowed the government more leeway to liberalise the movement of assets abroad without fear of sudden economic shocks leading to a flight of capital. The opening of capital accounts has lagged other free market reforms such as a decline in customs duties to 6 percent today from 16 percent ten years ago, Oualalou said.

The latest measures "will allow a better management of the effects of massive currency flows observed since 2001 and should reinforce the confidence of national and foreign actors in the Moroccan economy," he said. The government's longer-term goal is still to allow the dirham currency to float freely on international markets instead of the current arrangement under which the dirham's value is tied to a basket of world currencies.

Morocco's economy is fast growing, due to several factors.

Foreign investments, as labour-intensive products in the North African country can be made far cheaper in any other place close to Western Europe.

Morocco has a skilled labour force, and more and more people with high education, since Moroccan schools and universities are of good quality.

Moroccans are highly skilled in languages, and most young Moroccans know 2 or 3 languages.
http://english.alarabonline.org/display.asp?fname=2007%5C07%5C07-19%5Czbusinessz%5C980.htm&dismode=x&ts=21/07/2007%2010:52:24%20%C3%95
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EU aims to link Morocco to Europe's energy sector.
Mon 23 Jul 2007, RABAT (Reuters)

The European Union will grant Morocco 654 million euros over four years and begin moves to link Morocco's energy sector with those of its northern neighbours, the EU said on Monday. After meeting in Brussels on Monday, officials will sign a common declaration to prepare an eventual integration of Morocco's power sector into the EU's energy market, it said, without giving any deadline.

The money will be used to support social and economic development, human rights and governance, the environment and support for institutions under the EU's neighbourhood policy over the 2007-2010 period, it said. This policy aims to deepen links between an enlarged EU and nearby countries. "We note that Morocco is pursuing with determination the execution of its reforms and that, in this context, it is rapidly progressing in realising the goals of the EU-Morocco action plan," the European Commission said in a statement.

The EU wants to reward Morocco for lowering barriers to trade and enacting reforms to promote democracy and transparency and boost investment and trade to quicken economic growth. Morocco's economy has lagged far behind those of its northern neighbours, leading to high unemployment and poverty and swelling the ranks of illegal migrants trying to reach the EU in search of work.

Morocco's government has said it needs to spend between $1.5 billion and $2 billion on its power sector to meet surging demand and is drawing heavily on private investment. It has doubled the capacity of its interconnector to Spain to 1400 MW and obtained a Spanish power market trading licence. But officials have played down the likelihood of a free power market in Morocco in the near future because the company imports nearly all of its energy needs and costs are still too high to remove state support mechanisms.
http://africa.reuters.com/business/news/usnBAN353388.html
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Islamic Culture Week Held in Casablanca under slogan of 'Openness and Tolerance'.
24/07/2007

In an effort to rally Moroccan society to be vigilant against the danger of terrorism, the Casablanca Local Council of Ulema is organizing the Islamic Culture Week under the slogan "For the Sake of a Tolerant and Open Islamic Discourse" from July 21-28. The week features several cultural activities and seminars organized in tents in several Casablanca districts. The activities will focus on combating the concepts of extremism and violence, highlighting the tolerant and open nature of Islam, and warning the citizens of the looming terrorist danger.

The cultural week coincides with Morocco's decision three weeks ago to raise the security warning level to maximum after receiving intelligence information from several friendly countries about planned terror attacks on the country. In recent press statements Morocco's Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa has urged all citizens to be vigilant and to confront terrorist threats.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2007/07/24/newsbrief-03
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EU grants Morocco 654 million euros to 2011.
24/07/2007

The EU will grant 654 million euros to Morocco by 2011, European Commission Director General for External Relations Eneko Landaburu announced in Brussels on Monday (July 23rd), MAP reports. As part of the EU's Neighbourhood Policy the money will support social and economic development, human rights and governance, the environment and government institutions. The EU will also take steps to link Morocco's energy sector with EU countries, the Commission announced, although no timeframe was given. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2007/07/24/newsbrief-04
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US Trade and Development Agency supports the development of Morocco's meteorological service.
24/07/2007

The US Trade and Development Agency signed a co-operation agreement Monday (July 23rd) in Casablanca with Morocco's meteorological service aimed at developing and expanding the country's national meteorological network and enhancing its capabilities in forecasting natural disasters resulting from climate change. A statement issued by the Public Affairs Section of the US Embassy in Rabat said that under the agreement, the US Trade and Development Agency pledged a grant of $350,000 to fund a feasibility study of a project aimed at establishing a nationwide advanced radar network to monitor weather conditions. In recent years, Morocco has witnessed a number of natural crises resulting from weather change, particularly floods which have caused billions of dirhams in damage. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2007/07/24/newsbrief-05
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Morocco to participate in World Shoe Exhibition in Las Vegas.
Washington, July 26

Eight Moroccan companies will take part in the World Shoe and Accessories Exhibition (WSA), slated for July 30 through August 1 in Las Vegas. According to a press release of the Moroccan Center for Exports Promotion (CMPE), these companies will exhibit, on an area of 110 sqm, a wide range of products, notably, men's, women's and children's footwear as well as leather clothes. "World Shoes Accessories" is the largest and most comprehensive footwear and related accessories show in the world. Its twice-yearly show in Las Vegas pulls in more than 36,000 participants and nearly 1,600 exhibitors who represent the cream of the footwear manufacturing industry. In 2005, Morocco exported shoes worth USD 193Mn (MAD 1.67Bn) towards its main customers, namely France (40%), Spain (31%), Germany (13%) and Italy (9%).
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/world/morocco_to_participa_3/view
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Six of ten Moroccans live in cities, UN report .
Rabat, July 19

Six Moroccans out of ten live in urban areas, where poverty and exclusion are rife and unemployment rate reaches 16%, said UN expert on Housing, Moncef Fadili. Speaking at the presentation of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) State of World Population Report (2007), Mr. Fadili recalled the main development programs adopted by Morocco, notably the "Millennium Goals development," "Free-Slum cities program", and the large-scale anti-poverty program "the National Initiative for Human Development." (INDH). "All these programs are meant to guarantee decent housing for Moroccans and ensure sustainable development," he explained.

Speaking on the same occasion, UNFPA Representative to Morocco, Georges Georgi affirmed that urbanization is "a natural process which comes as a result of natural growth and not only rural migration." Quoting the report, he denied as "erroneous" the idea that the rural populations is better off in the countryside and that rural migration should be monitored.

The UN Coordinator in Morocco, Mourad Wahba, warned that this data-rich report launched from Morocco "raises questions that must not be ignored." He called upon world leaders to provide social services and infrastructure to urban populations, and invest for the good of women and the youth.

The UN responsible also said the report proposes interesting strategies based on a participative approach that enable all the city's components to improve the space they share. According to this report,dubbed "Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth," 3.3 billion people, will be living in urban areas. By 2030, this is expected to swell to almost 5 billion. The report also notes that cities embody the environmental damage done by modern civilization, however, it concedes that experts and policymakers increasingly recognize the potential value of cities to long-term sustainability.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/world/six_of_ten_moroccans/view
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Morocco set to shoot 40 movies/year by 2020 .
Rabat, July 26

Morocco is set to promote the domestic film industry, through "shooting 40 movies a year and drawing some USD 23Mn per annum from foreign productions in Morocco," part of the 2020 National movie strategy, Moroccan Minister of Communication and the government spokesman, Nabil Benabdallah told the press on Wednesday. This strategy, he said, aims to “face movie distribution constraints and the shut down of several movie theaters through building multiplex cinemas in several cities of the kingdom.” This program was adopted earlier on the day at a meeting of the Moroccan Prime Minister, Driss Jettou, and cinema -industry professionals.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_culture/morocco_set_to_shoot/view
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From Cambridge to Morocco.

ON Sunday a most intriguing convoy set off from Cambridge - and we'll be following the posse of vehicles on its gruelling 5,000-mile odyssey to and around Morocco. It is part of a marathon fundraiser which will substantially benefit wildlife in east Africa and children in the Sahara.

The Sahara Rally allows "any old jalopy" to compete. "We've even got a Clio," says Cherry Hinton-based organiser Karl Scarr. Karl is heading up the convoy in his own 1990 Mercedes 300 (220,000 miles on the clock), but it would be a mistake to conclude that this is a gung-ho jolly.

Every detail of the itinerary has been scheduled in, every stopover, and every possible circumstance considered. Karl Scarr is enjoying his long trek Having been married to a Moroccan for some years, Karl had spent enough time in the north African state to realise that there was much to be done when it comes to relieving the grinding poverty. Realising that he was in a unique position to to help, Karl identified the two charities which are to benefit from the fundraising trip - La Creche de Tanger and the East African Wild Life Society.

The Creche de Tanger is a Tangier-based organisation which supports disenfranchised children, and the East African Wild Life Society assists wildlife and habitats in Kenya and Tanzania. One of the sponsors is Vindis, and general manager Andy Sinclair at the Milton Road dealership is completely behind the project.

"One of our technicians came to me and asked me to support him as an entrant in the charity," he said. "I said not to rule it out and it rolled on from there." Others who have been equally as supportive include the Wrestlers pub, World Video, G & A Autocars, Cambridge Discount Installations and Kevin Wells Cleaning.

Channel 4 and the Discovery Channel are involved, a French film crew has tied up a deal with Sky, the RAC has put itself down for two vehicles - and you'll be able to follow the latest updates via the Cambridge News website and in our newspaper's Friday Drive supplement. The itinerary involves driving to Tangier, taking the coastal road to Rabat, turning left towards Fes and then heading south towards the Atlas mountains. At Merzouga the participants turn west along the High Atlas mountains towards Marrakech, thence to Casablanca and from there back up the coast.

There's not many rally's like this. You've got Paris-Dakar, but that's just a straight-through race. This is something new - a rally which promotes camaraderie and co-operation rather than competition and assertiveness.
visit www.sahararally.co.uk for further updates.
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/articles/2007/07/26/7c28aea4-689f-42b1-8df3-e48b62b9dd21.lpf
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Moroccans say security fears hurting tourism.
Wed 25 Jul 2007, By Zakia Abdennebi MARRAKESH, Morocco, July 25 (Reuters)

After three days sitting in a dusty clearing, Ibrahim is beginning to wonder if a European tourist will ever hire one of his camels for a tour of the rose-lined boulevards of Marrakesh. "The number of visitors has dwindled to nothing in the past week," said the 21-year-old Moroccan, his lips pale and dry in the summer heat. "I've been waiting for three days but not a single tourist has come for a ride. A tourism boom that transformed Marrakesh with hotels, apartments and golf courses seems to have paused, and some hotel managers and officials are blaming an increase in activity by Islamic militants.

North Africa has been on alert since al Qaeda's affiliate in the region threatened to escalate its war against "corrupt" regional rulers and their Western allies. In March and April in the coastal city of Casablanca, seven suicide bombers detonated devices, two outside U.S. diplomatic buildings, killing all the bombers and one policeman. "The flow of tourists has been shrinking and the authorities refuse to make the numbers public," said a Marrakesh government official who did not want to be named. "The incidents in Casablanca in April were another factor in the trend of falling tourist arrivals because it tainted the image of Morocco."

All that could spell problems for Morocco, once an off-beat destination for the adventurous that is now embracing the era of mass tourism. Tourism has become Morocco's biggest source of foreign currency, helping offset big trade deficits. Its importance is likely to grow as the government seeks to boost visitor numbers to 10 million by 2010, up from 6.5 million last year.

Open Sky agreements have allowed airlines to shuttle in millions of Europeans, who sunbathe around pools and shop for craftworks in the kingdom's bustling old towns or flock to a growing number of open-air festivals. Some economists warn there are risks in placing so much reliance on an industry whose chances could be threatened by security scares.

The number of visitors to Marrakesh was up only 1 percent in May, well short of what will be needed to fill the hotels mushrooming across the city and reach the 2010 target. Recent bookings suggest a drop of between 17 percent and 50 percent in occupancy at 24 hotels with four or five stars, according to an official who asked to remain anonymous.

JIHADISTS
This month the government raised its security alert to "maximum", suggesting an attack by al Qaeda-linked jihadists was imminent. "We are worried about the declaration of the maximum level of security alert because tourism is a sensitive and fragile business which could be influenced by such an announcement," said tour operator Khalil Majidi.

Others praised the government for its openness, saying honesty was the best approach in the long run. "The Moroccan authorities took a stand that is responsible and transparent," said Jalil Ben Abbass Tearji, head of the Moroccan tourism federation.

Some in the industry blamed the recent downturn on elections that kept French people at home or a failure of professional booking agents to keep up with the latest computer technology. Loubna Lehresh, a receptionist in a high-class town house hotel, said she had seen some booking cancellations after the Casablanca bombs and again after the latest security alert.

"But we must wait for August to see if there's a real drop," she said. "We are still hopeful." Marrakshis said they were no strangers to tight security, part of everyday life ever since hooded men shot dead two Spanish tourists in one of the city's hotels in 1994. More recently, roadblocks have been set up at the entrance to big towns and police in blue riot vans watch over Marrakesh's biggest hotels.

But foreign tourists seemed more worried about escaping the searing heat. "Bombings may occur anywhere and at any time, whether in Britain, Spain or elsewhere," said Anna Pitzalis, a 29-year-old Dutch secretary. "That does not prevent me from visiting this beautiful country." "Morocco is not Afghanistan, Iraq or Palestine," said 52-year-old Italian Fabricio Corradin.
http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL23257245.html
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Creation of a new national strategy to promote the Moroccan film industry.
By Sarah Touahri  27/07/2007

A recently announced government initiative aims to assist Morocco's beleaguered film industry. The programme envisions 40 locally-produced feature films per year by 2020, up from the current average of fifteen. The Moroccan government recently announced its commitment to resolving the problems of Morocco's film industry. Prime Minister Driss Jettou held a meeting on Wednesday (July 25th) with film industry professionals (distributors, cinema operators, film technicians, directors and producers) and members of the government, to find ways to boost the art form in Morocco. The government's ultimate goal is to implement a national strategy to aid the Moroccan film industry by 2020.

In a press statement, Communications Minister Nabil Ben Abdellah stated the objective was to promote Moroccan film through the production of 40 films per year by 2020, and to improve on the 200 million-dirham turnover per year for international productions filmed in Morocco. "The strategy is also directed at countering constraints on distribution and the closure of cinemas with the construction of multipurpose auditoria in several cities across the kingdom," he explained.

According to film professionals, the campaign to increase international film production in Morocco has already begun. Nourredine Sail, Director-General of the Moroccan Film Centre, has indicated "the importance of opening up to foreign productions in a rational and serious way, because this brings not only the financing Morocco needs, along with its economic repercussions, but also training. The film industry gains enormously in professionalism."

The film industry appears optimistic. During the meeting representatives said Morocco is a very attractive destination for foreign producers, and the phenomenon can only grow. The first National Audiovisual and Film Production Conference, held in July 2006, put forward several recommendations aimed at stimulating the audiovisual and film industry, in particular by setting up a national production charter. Industry professionals are unanimous in saying the sector has made great strides in terms of quantity and quality, and that it now finds itself included in the great international festivals.

Mohamed Belghiti, President of the Moroccan Chamber of Cinema Operators, expressed his satisfaction with the new initiative. He said the film representatives left the government meeting with real hope that there is a desire to save the industry. He noted one new project in particular, the future establishment of a Higher Institute for Film and Audiovisual Activities, to be called the GIPFORMAC. In February 2007, the Commission for Assistance in Film Production awarded 14.7 million dirhams to eight film production projects as a pre-production advance for six feature films and two short films.

The government's goal of 40 films per year by 2020 is a significant increase from the current average of fifteen feature length films and around forty short films per year. There are currently around thirty production companies in the country. Sail said that Moroccan film-makers "are proving more and more, through the diversity of their work and the richness of their imagination, that they are building the foundations of a real national film movement."
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2007/07/27/feature-02
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The people’s bread. After thousands of years, communal ovens remain a way of life in Morocco
By JOAN NATHAN, New York Times News Service  Tuesday, July 24, 2007

The best way to understand this fortress town, on the Atlantic coast about 30 miles south of Tangier, is to let your eyes and your nose lead you through the narrow streets where only foot traffic is allowed. While visiting here for a few days, I sniffed my way through the warrens of the medina, built in the 14th century by Portuguese and inhabited later by Muslims and Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. Today the town’s population is international, with people from Spain and France buying quaint apartments as second homes.

A baker at a communal oven in Asilah, Morocco, on Jan. 10, 2007. Communal ovens have been a part of Mediterranean life for thousands of years. Morocco, at the end of the spice route in Africa, developed a fine cuisine known for its pungent spice combinations. In Assilah, as in much of the country, people eat seasonally, shop at the outdoor markets, and buy live chickens to have slaughtered on the spot, feathers flying helter-skelter. (In the big cities, where health inspectors and supermarkets are taking over, this is a dying custom.) At one market I saw eggs gathered the same morning, carefully protected by strands of hay; lemons preserved in salted water; black and green olives from nearby orchards.

As everywhere else in Morocco, the home cooks make the most flavorful food. But not all of their cooking is done at home.

One morning, I happened upon a crowd of women, along with a few men and small boys, all balancing boards on their heads piled with rounds of dough. I followed them into a small stucco building where smoke poured from the chimney. Inside, a baker stood calmly underneath a portrait of the Moroccan king, Mohammed VI. He carefully placed the mounds of shaped dough on long wooden paddles and slid them into a brick oven fueled with eucalyptus branches. From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day, customers arrive in a steady stream, pay a few dirhams — about 25 cents — and then leave. About 20 minutes later, they return to pick up their golden rounds of bread.

In three other towns in northern Morocco I found similar ovens, all contributing to the heartbeat of the city. Communal ovens have been a part of Mediterranean life for thousands of years. People in the shtetls of Eastern Europe, in French country towns and in Middle Eastern medinas baked their bread in them, and later, when the ovens were cooler, cooked casseroles and other dishes.

Today many people have gas stoves or propane cooktops at home, and the communal ovens are disappearing. In my travels I have found them only rarely: in Jerusalem’s old city; in Arab villages in Israel and the West Bank; on the Caribbean island of Montserrat.

In Assilah, as in other Moroccan towns, the ovens are in transition, still in use even though many people have their own stoves. “These bread ovens are a link with the past,” said Paula Wolfert, the author of “Couscous and Other Good Food From Morocco,” who lived in Tangier for seven years. “It was part of the community, an extension of the home.”

Traditional cooks in Assilah wake around dawn each morning to knead and shape the dough. They let it rise for a few hours before carrying it to the public oven, known as a ferrane. Called khubz, the bread is about the size of pita but much denser. Sometimes it is made entirely with white flour; sometimes barley or coarse whole wheat flour is mixed in, and semolina is sprinkled on top.

Somehow, with dozens of loaves on the floor of his oven, the baker always knows whose bread is whose. But just in case he forgets, most people make an identifying mark on their dough.

“My housekeeper put a special stamp on the bread made out of iron with a design, a sort of family mark on it,” Wolfert said. “She didn’t sleep well unless there was a sack of wheat in the house to make bread.”

Bread isn’t the only food cooked in the ferrane. I saw metal plates filled with green peppers and tomatoes, ready to be quickly charred and then peeled for salads. Clay pots covered with tinfoil or parchment paper also waited their turn. Inside were tagines of fish — sardines, swordfish, snapper — rich with tomatoes, potatoes, cilantro and spices. Family secrets work their way into these tagines: the way the vegetables are cut, the ratio of spices, the kind of fish, even the shape of the clay pot.

The public oven is also where families announce weddings, anniversaries and other special occasions, whether they want to or not. When someone brings a b’stilla,one of the jewels of Moroccan cooking — a chicken or pigeon pie made with nuts, sugar, cinnamon and orange blossom water — everybody knows that a big celebration is on the way. After all, no one would take the trouble to make b’stilla on just any old day. This delicious pie is topped with warka leaf, a thin dough somewhat like phyllo that is made by bouncing fistfuls of wet, pasty batter on a hot grill until it miraculously comes together.

Other celebratory foods also appear at the ferrane, like crisp Moroccan cookies. Also made from warka, they are first baked in the oven, then taken home and soaked in honey.

Later that day, I ate lunch at the home of Mohamed Benaissa, the town’s mayor and an old friend from the time he was the Moroccan ambassador to the United States. The round bread and the fresh sardine tagine, the centerpiece of our magnificent meal, was assembled at the Benaissas’ home by their cook, Halima Sella, and baked in the same public oven I had just seen, only steps away from the house. The Benaissas have two gas ovens in their kitchen, but they prefer to use the ferrane.

“The oven is a social equalizer,” said Benaissa, who is also the foreign minister of Morocco. “It also creates jobs and is economical, especially in the summer, because we use little energy for so many people.”

After lunch Sella showed me how to make her chicken couscous with onions, ginger, cinnamon and saffron, a dish I had adored at the Benaissas’ home in Washington. She simmered it over the stove in a large couscousier, a double-layered pot.

The chicken stewed in the bottom of the pot, producing steam that seeped through the holes of a sieve and cooked the couscous in the top layer. Plastic wrap helped seal in the steam. Patiently frying almonds in hot oil, Sella insisted that the couscous be steamed three times, something that cooks rarely do in the United States.

As I tasted the Benaissas’ food and reflected on the different varieties of tagine and bread I had seen at the oven, it occurred to me that Moroccan recipes are proud secrets embedded in families, transferred by word of mouth from generation to generation. A little more cumin, a little less cinnamon? Should the vegetables be diced in rounds or squares?

These secrets are not revealed even to the man at the ferrane who does the cooking.
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CHICKEN WITH COUSCOUS
Adapted from Halima Sella
Time: 1 hour
1 4-pound chicken, skinned and cut into chunks (thighs in half, breasts in thirds, drumsticks and wings left whole, and backbone discarded)

Juice of 1 lemon
Salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 onions, diced
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup (lightly packed) parsley sprigs
1/2 cup (lightly packed) cilantro sprigs
1 pinch saffron threads
1 1/2 cups blanched whole almonds
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 pound couscous
1. Rub chicken pieces with lemon juice, and season lightly with salt. Place a Dutch oven over high heat, and add olive oil and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. When oil is hot add onions, and saute until beginning to soften. Add chicken pieces, and saute until seared on all sides. Pour off all oil in pan.

2. Add ginger, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, black pepper, parsley and cilantro. Mix saffron with 1 cup water, and add to pot; then add 2 cups more water. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until chicken is cooked, about 30 minutes.

3. While chicken cooks place a skillet over medium-high heat, and add remaining 1 cup vegetable oil. When hot add almonds, and stir until golden brown. Remove immediately, and drain on paper towels. In a food processor combine almonds, sugar, butter and remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Pulse until there is just a tiny crunch to almonds.

4. To serve, cook couscous according to package instructions. Add almond mixture, and toss to blend. Spread couscous across a large serving platter, and mound chicken on top. Serve hot.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings.
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TAGINE OF FISH
Adapted from Halima Sella
Time: About 1 hour, 15 minutes3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large red onion, thinly sliced into rounds
1 large potato, boiled until tender and thinly sliced into rounds
1 green bell pepper, roasted, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons ground cumin, or to taste
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 1/2 pounds sardine, swordfish or red snapper fillets, cut into slices about 3 inches long
2 tomatoes, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 lemon, thinly sliced
Harissa, for garnish (see note)
Thinly sliced preserved lemon, for garnish (see note).
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Smear bottom of a tagine, clay pot or Dutch oven with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Layer slices of onion, potato and roasted pepper in pan. In a small bowl, combine cilantro, parsley, paprika, salt, black pepper, cumin, thyme, garlic, lemon juice and 2 remaining tablespoons olive oil; mix well, and sprinkle about 2 tablespoons over vegetables in pan.

2. Rub all sides of fish with some spice mixture, and place on top of vegetables. If using red snapper fillets, sandwich two pieces of fillet together before arranging them.

3. Smear tomato slices with spice mixture, and place on fish. Top with lemon slices and any remaining spice mixture. Sprinkle with more salt, if desired, and drizzle with 1 to 2 tablespoons water.

4. Cover with a lid or foil, and bake until fish is cooked through (30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on type of fish and pan used). Garnish with harissa and preserved lemon, and serve.

Yield: 6 servings.
Note: Available in Middle Eastern and specialty shops.

MOROCCAN ANISE-FLAVORED BREAD (KHUBZ)
Adapted from “Paula Wolfert’s World of Food” (Harper & Row, 1988)
Time: About 1 1/2 hours, plus 2 hours’ rising
1 package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup stone-ground whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon anise seeds
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 to 3 tablespoons semolina flour, as needed.
1. In bowl of an electric mixer combine yeast, sugar and 2 cups warm water. Stir, and add all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, salt, anise seeds and sesame seeds. Mix with dough hook until smooth and elastic.

2. Divide dough in half, and shape into two balls. Let stand 5 minutes. Lightly oil surface of each ball, and roll around inside a wide mixing bowl until smooth. Flatten each ball into a disk 1 inch thick and 6 inches in diameter, slightly thicker in center.

3. Sprinkle a baking pan with about 2 tablespoons semolina flour. Place loaves on pan, and sprinkle surface of loaves with additional semolina flour to keep them from being sticky. Cover loosely with a damp kitchen towel, and let loaves rise in a warm place for about 2 hours, or until a finger pressed in the side of the dough leaves a deep indentation. Prick each loaf deeply 6 or 7 times with a fork to release gas.

4. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake loaves 12 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees, and bake about 20 minutes longer or until bottom of bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove loaves from oven, and let cool before slicing into wedges.

http://www.bonitanews.com/news/2007/jul/24/peoples_bread/?around_swfla
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Readers help Moroccan toilet family.
By Richard Hamilton    BBC News, Sale, Morocco
Donations from online readers have helped a family in Morocco find somewhere to live after seven years living in a public toilet.

Readers of an article on the BBC News website in June were so moved by the story of Aze Adine Ould Baja, his wife Khadija and their three children, that they donated more than $2,000 (£1,000). The family is now renting a new flat with the money they have received and hope to buy their own house in the future.

"I don't think we would have survived if it had not been for the money," Mr Baja told me. "We had been thrown out of the toilet by the authorities and I had lost my job as the attendant there. I want to thank all the people who gave money, may God bless them and give them a place in heaven."

His wife Khadija said the experience had restored her faith in human nature. "Because of this, we now know that charitable people still exist in the world," she said. "We never thought we would receive anything," she told me, "but now we have an apartment that is clean, has water, electricity and even a toilet! "We thank God we are living in a place like this and not in the public lavatories, where we lived among rats and mice."

Evicted
About 10 years ago their youngest daughter was kidnapped, and the family spent all their money getting her back. No longer being able to afford their flat, the family moved into the public lavatories in Sale near Rabat, where Mr Baja worked as the attendant. They thought it would be just a temporary measure because the local authority promised them somewhere else to live, but seven years later those promises had still not become reality.

In fact the authorities even issued them with identity papers that gave their official address as "Toilets, Sale". When the family told their story to a local newspaper the authorities evicted them from the lavatories and blocked it up with concrete. But after they read about the plight of the Baja family on the BBC website, hundreds of people from as far afield as the United States, Britain and Kuwait sent emails expressing concern.

"I have been unemployed for quite some time now," wrote one reader, "but I have a roof over my head now and would like the same thing for the Baja family." "It is a shame for the whole world that innocent people have to live under such horrible conditions," wrote another.
And yet another correspondent said: "Brother, I pray your troubles will pass soon. Please pray for me and my family too. Wa Salaam."

Deposit on home
Dozens of people have now sent donations via the money transfer service, Western Union. More money is still coming in. Mr Baja plans to get a job working as a car park attendant or selling snacks on the beach at Sale. He also wants to buy his own house using money he has received as a deposit. "Living in the toilet was a nightmare that we have woken up from," he said. "It was like a dark cloud or a fog passing in front of our eyes. When you have no job, no house and cannot provide for your family, you are not a real human http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6275170.stm
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Breakfast in the mountains.
Isabel Choat

I admit, it sounds too worthy to be fun. If you respond to the usual “where are you going on holiday this year” question with “Oh, I’m walking with nomads”, you sound like a smug do-gooder. Yet there was nothing po-faced or forced about our trek in southern Morocco………….
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=313090&area=/insight/insight__escape/
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Pidgen or poetry? Moroccans debate identity.
July 04 2007 By Tom Pfeiffer

Rabat - Darija, the language Moroccans use in everyday life, is coming to the fore in media and music, prompting calls it be declared a national language as some in the North African country ask for the first time: "Who are we?"

Morocco's official language is standard Arabic.

But most people, from royal advisers to street cleaners, speak the mixture of Arabic, Berber, French and Spanish words whose diversity reflects its history as an ancient crossroads linking Africa, Europe and the Arab world.

If you say, "yallah nshoufou f-el-kouzina ila kanet el-bota kheddama bash ntayybu shlada dyal khezzou" it means: "Let's go to the kitchen to see if the cooker works so we can make carrot salad." Most words in that sentence are from Arabic but kouzina is from Spanish, bota comes from the French gas brand Butagaz and shlada is derived from the French or Spanish words for salad.

Few Moroccans have a kind word for their tongue. Some hold it in virtual contempt as a mongrel pidgin of the pure Arabic taught to young boys in Q'uranic schools across the country. Darija has moved so far from Arabic since the Arab invasion of North Africa in the 7th century that visitors from the Middle East often need a translator to get by.

It sounds more guttural than standard Arabic, contains fewer vowel sounds and appears to be spoken twice as quickly.

In the heyday of pan-Arabism in the late 1970s, European words were seen as a colonial hangover that must be expunged. The government banned schoolteachers from communicating in Darija in classrooms as part of a policy of "Marocanisation" - Arabisation under another name.

Critics of the policy say it cemented a division between an elite who could speak standard Arabic - the official written language - and those who could not. It also entrenched illiteracy: with no written Darija, Moroccans must learn a new language in order to read.

Just under half of Moroccans are unable to read or write but experts say another 30 percent are semi-literate as they cannot decipher official language.

To many Moroccans the ideal of standard Arabic remains a noble one - only God's language is worthy for true debate, international affairs and creative writing.

But to foreigners, the contrast that news bulletins are still read in Arabic while advertisers are increasingly choosing Darija to reach a mass audience smacks of snobbery. "So you don't care whether people know what's going on in the world but you want them to buy things? Give me a break!" said Elena Prentice, a United States painter and editor who set up the country's first free newspaper, published in Darija.

Those who oppose lifting Darija to the status of a national language say its varied forms from one region to another make it impossible to pin down and formalise. "We'd have to create one Darija for all the Moroccan people. Why go to all that trouble when we already have a language ready-made (standard Arabic)?" said Mohamed Yatim of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), the largest Islamist opposition group.

For Yatim, foreigners want to promote Darija because they are jealous of Arabs - with their single language that links them from the Gulf to the Atlantic - and want to divide them. "They already created political and social problems for us and now they want to create the problem of language," he said.

The debate over Darija began in earnest in 2003 when suicide bombings by impoverished youths from the Casablanca suburbs driven by Islamist extremists killed 45 people and shocked the normally peaceful country. Parallels were drawn between Morocco's image of tolerance and Darija's shifting form and diverse origins, versus what many saw as prejudice and extremism imported from the Middle East.

"People asked 'How did we manufacture these monsters?' and began to question who they really were. And Darija was one of the answers in this new definition of what it meant to be Moroccan," said Dominique Caubet, professor of Maghreb Arabic at Paris-based oriental studies institute INALCO.

Darija is now seeping into the media with a liberalisation of the air waves and the creation of magazine Nichane, banned from newsstands for two months this year after publishing a list of popular jokes about Islam, sex and politics.

Many Darija expressions are the invention of rap musicians from the sprawling suburbs of Casablanca, whose rhymes are reaching more people thanks to new music stations whose sole priority is boosting audience numbers and advertising revenue.

"It was an obvious decision to broadcast in Darija," said Imane Laraichi, communications manager at Hit Radio in Rabat, which launched last August. "You wouldn't ask the presenters of TF1 in France why they broadcast in French."

The first Moroccan literature entirely in Darija appeared recently, a book of short stories by Youssef Amine Elalamy and Internet chatrooms are buzzing with conversations in the tongue using the Latin alphabet.

Social workers are using it for health awareness campaigns and to educate deprived youngsters, breaking down a language barrier they say stops people from becoming active citizens able to understand world events and influence their own futures.

"There is a feeling that we must put in place a real bridge to exchange knowledge across the yawning gulfs in our society," said sociologist Youssef Sadik.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_Africa&set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=nw20070704081830522C233494
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