Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
April 26, 2008

Morocco's exports to USA up 30% since coming into force of FTA.
Casablanca, Apr. 21

Morocco's exports to the United States posted a 30% increase since the free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries came into force in 2006, which attests, according to American ambassador to Morocco, Thomas Riley, to the good results of the agreement. Addressing the opening session of a meeting of American and North-African businessmen to discuss ways and means to boost trade and examine partnership opportunities in the field of agribusiness, Mr. Riley said that the agreement has also enabled to highlight Morocco's potential in the United States and aroused the interest of a number of American businessmen.

The FTA and the Agadir Agreement (grouping Morocco, Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia) are important, the diplomat said, in so far as they create a favorable environment to promote economic development and boost the production capacity, while promoting a better integration with the rest of the world. He added that trade generates economic growth, which in turn creates jobs, hence the importance of FTAs in promoting trade flows.

For his part, administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), Michael W. Yost, pointed to the potential of North Africa in the field of agriculture, noting that the visit of the American delegation is aimed at exploring investment opportunities and promoting trade in both directions and in various areas. He voiced his country’s will to help the countries of the region attract investments and acquire the best technologies and skills.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/morocco_s_exports_to6340/view
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7,000 new breast cancer cases documented yearly in Morocco.
Casablanca, Apr. 24

About 20 new cases of breast cancer are declared daily in Morocco, that is 7,000 new cases a year, Dr. Rachid Bekkali, executive director of the Lalla Salma Association to Fight Cancer revealed on Thursday. In order to contain the spread of this disease among women, the Association will, on Friday, launch a national campaign to raise awareness as to the importance of early cancer screening.

The USD 480,000 campaign, due to run until May, will target women aged above 45, as well as health professionals. It will use posters, TV and radio commercials, as well as testimonies from patients, in addition to handing out leaflets to practitioners and the public, especially on self-examination of breasts.

The campaign will incite women to make early self-examination, the association executives said. They stressed that 90% of the cases can be cured if discovered early, assuring of the existence of treatments that can be administered for free to poor patients. http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_social/7000_new_breast_can/view
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Moroccans on borrowing spree, new study finds.
By Imane Belhaj 2008-04-20

Banks and credit institutions increased loans by double digits over the last year, as low and middle-income Moroccans used easy credit procedures to borrow money for homes, cars and other purchases. Moroccans with limited income are increasingly relying on personal loans to make purchases or repay existing debt, the Moroccan Ministry of Finance and Economy disclosed in a study released on April 10th.

Moroccans owe 120 billion dirhams to financial institutions and banks. While most of that debt is in the form of home loans, the study showed that personal and renewable bank loans neared 19.6 billion dirhams in 2007, an increase of 11.1% compared to 2006. Loans granted by non-bank credit institutions also surged 14% over the same period, reaching 30.6 billion dirhams.

Most troubling to government officials and economists is the study's conclusion that the borrowing rate is inversely proportionate to income level. In 2006, individuals with income below 4,000 dirhams per month constituted 53% of the total number of borrowers. The study noted that the since the poor need more cash than the rich, they get more loans, thereby perpetuating a cycle of debt and potentially aggravating poverty.

"Some brackets of society are unable to achieve their goals in life. They thus resort to loans, though they know beforehand that they might be unable to pay up at a certain point, leading to future bankruptcy or property seizure," economy professor Al-Hasan Al-Daoudi from Mohammed V University told Magharebia.

Despite the risks, many low or limited-income families find borrowed money to be their only solution. Physical education teacher Ahmed Taher said, "No matter how burdensome loans can get, they still help us make ends meet." "There is no other option in order to face the increasing needs and demands, especially of children," said civil servant Yazid Melki, adding, "No matter how much loans cut out of monthly salaries, they manage to solve our immediate problems."

N.F., another civil servant, believes that it is impossible to live without resorting to financial institutions and banks: "For instance, to buy a house, a loan is the answer. The same thing can be said about furnishing a house, traveling, or even buying school needs or food supplies for the feast of Ramadan."

"No household nowadays is loan-free," Rashida Jaheed commented to Magharebia. "It is nonsensical to wait for years to save up in order to buy a car, which is actually indispensable in light of the transportation problems," she said.

Low interest rates, fierce competition among financial institutions and rising household consumption rates have contributed to the surge in lending and personal debt. Simplified bank procedures have also helped more people apply for loans. In most cases, bank employee Mohamed Jafaiti explained to Magharebia, banks only request a photocopy of one's ID card and the last two salary statements to decide the size of the loan. Procedures are even easier when the bank or credit institution has an existing contract with the borrower's employer. "Strangely enough, getting used to loans drives one to apply for a new loan just as one is about to pay off the first. There is no end," said mathematics teacher Najeeb Ferak.

A previous report issued by Bank al-Maghrib noted that 93% of clients who request loans are civil servants.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2008/04/20/feature-01
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Morocco dedicates up to USD 2Bn annually to develop agriculture, Minister.
Meknès, Apr.23

Morocco decided to dedicate up to USD 2Bn per annum to fund agricultural projects, as part of Morocco's new plan to promote the agriculture sector's competitiveness, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Aziz Akhannouch, said on Tuesday. Dubbed "Green Morocco Plan", this six-point strategy eyes to allot between USD 1.3Bn to 2Bn to fund 700 to 900 projects per annum, he explained while presenting this plan at the opening ceremony of the first National Agriculture Conference, held under the theme "Vision of Tomorrow, for a Competitive Agriculture." The strategy also provides for bankrolling up to 400 social projects, meant to help these workers to shift to high added-value activities, and for combating poverty through improving agriculture workers' revenues.

It will have a doubtless positive impact on the national economy and on the job market as this strategy benefits one million agricultural plans and generates USD 9.7Bn to USD 13.8Bn in GDP, he said, recalling that this sector yields up to 20% of Morocco's GDP. This strategy, Mr. Akhannouch explained, deals with the situation of this sector, its growth potential, its energies as well as the challenges and constraints that hinder its development. This plan, he went on, stems from the clear idea that agriculture should become the driving force for Morocco's economic growth in the coming ten to fifteen years, have great impact on GDP growth and create jobs.

The second point, according to him, hinges on the assumption that agriculture must be available for everyone, adapted to each type of players, break with the traditional perception that distinguishes between modern and social agriculture, and take into account the diversity of actors besides related socio-economic constraints.

The third point focuses on the need for Morocco to follow new innovative models of cooperatives such as examples that have proven themselves at the international level and in Morocco, namely the aggregation.

The fourth point provides for defining a new agricultural strategy that promotes private investment, while the fifth pleads for adopting a transactional approach, meant to achieve 1,500 projects on the basis of a targeted economic model.

The last point of this strategy recommends that all sectors be given their chance of success, the Minister underlined.
On the situation of the sector, the Minister deplored, among other things, the fact that agriculture consumes up to 80 pc of water -while this resource is depleting and that cereal-growing areas represent 75% of the total amount of arable land, but stand for only 10% of the sector's trading volume and 5% of jobs.

Up to 15 Mn Moroccans live in the countryside, Morocco has some 500,000 farms, and between 8 to 10Mn people suffer rampant unemployment, he went on to say. To cope with this situation, the Minister suggested fostering added-value export-oriented agricultural products, especially citrus fruits, leguminous plants and oil olives, which provide work to 80% of farm workers. He also called on promoting the policy of dams and fostering environment-friendly production systems.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/morocco_dedicates_up/view
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Fulbright winner will study microfinance in Morocco
Photo by Matt Thomas, Gustavus Adolphus CollegeFulbright winner Addie Ryan

Take the 800 or so Fulbright scholarships awarded to students in the United States each year, with most Minnesota schools announcing at least one. Prestigious, sure, but an overwhelming volume if you're curious about the stories behind the winners. It's easy to forget that students are selected because they believe they can, if even in the smallest way, change the world.

Here's the story of one.

Addie Ryan, a senior at Gustavus Adolphus College, had backup plans. The Peace Corps. The JET Program (teaching English in Japan). She wanted the Fulbright most but was smart enough to not bank on it. After all, she said, "Who expects a Fulbright?" After applying she was told she'd hear "sometime between March and June." She endured small panic attacks every time she opened her email. She practiced the speech she would give friends and family if it turned out she was passed over.

One afternoon earlier this month she opened her email. And there it was: She was in.

Next fall she's off to Morocco to research a subject that brought a Nobel Peace Prize to the last person who studied it. Ryan is interested in microfinance. That's a dry term for the uninitiated, so here's a simplified definition: providing poor people with small loans so they can start businesses with their skills.

In Morocco, for instance, women from rural areas or other countries often have few opportunities, the most promising being working for rich people, in prostitution, or trafficking drugs. Say, for instance, one of those women can sew. She could launch a business with her skill and be successful. Only problem is, she doesn't have start-up money. Microfinance also refers to other financial services, such as savings accounts and insurance, as well as opportunities for people to learn skills and trades to start a small business.

The micro and the global
The small picture is best framed using the last half of the famous Chinese proverb, slightly modified to reflect Ryan's research: Teach a woman to fish, and she will eat for a lifetime. The big picture is this: Microfinance can use existing free-market economics to solve the biggest issues developing countries face — namely, poverty and hunger.

Ryan will study microfinance's effect on rural Moroccan development, focusing on how effectively women have been able to use the small loans. She plans to partner with an organization in northeast Morocco http://www.zakourafondation.org/accueil.php3?vareng=oui that has a 13-year history of empowering women by using microfinance, and eventually publish a paper that examines the successes and shortcomings of the organization's programs.

Her idea, in short, is to find ways to make the organization better, which in turn will help more poor women find ways to provide for themselves and their families. Ryan is well-traveled, through opportunities from both her church and Gustavus, though at her core she's a native of St. Paul and lifelong Minnesotan. And that's given her one more goal for her Fulbright.

"I dream of feeling accepted as a member of the community," she said. "I want to feel comfortable walking into the medina and visiting my 'bread man' and my 'vegetable man' and conversing in Arabic, though my Scandinavian features may make this quite challenging at first. I want to break the negative stereotypes that Muslims may have of Americans."

And one more thing — maybe the most important of all."I expect to learn a lot about the subject of microfinance and the geographic region," she said, "but I also hope to learn a lot about myself." Because there's another famous adage, which says in so many words, that if you're going to change the world, you have to change yourself first.
http://www.minnpost.com/brianvoerding/2008/04/21/1571/fulbright_winner_will_study_microfinance_in_morocco
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Morocco to allocate $20 billion to modernise farms.
2008-04-23

Morocco will earmark $20.67 billion to upgrade and diversify the farming sector, Reuters quoted Agriculture Minister Aziz Akhennouch as saying on Tuesday (April 22nd). "Morocco's agriculture must become an engine to expand the country's economic growth, boost exports and fight poverty," Akhennouch said. Agriculture employs 15m farmers and their families in Morocco, and accounts for 20% of the country's GDP. Describing other improvements to Moroccan agriculture, Akhennouch said cereals would be replaced with more lucrative crops such as olives. Such a plan, he said, "is expected to create 1 million new jobs in rural areas and to increase the contribution of the farming sector to GDP by 70-100 billion dirhams". http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2008/04/23/newsbrief-06
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Maghreb rural development associations create new co-operation network.
By Imane Belhaj 2008-04-24

Rural development groups from across the Maghreb agreed this month in Tunisia that the best way to see their goals realised is to join forces and create a new network. Representatives of forty local development associations in Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia who gathered for a three-day forum earlier this month in Medenine, Tunisia are now finalising a new Maghreb co-operative network to enhance rural development and uplift the living standards of desert dwellers.

Attendees at the March 31st-April 2nd seminar hosted by the Sustainable Development Association (ADD) of Beni Khedache also included 20 Spanish, French and Italian groups which, as part of the European Union's LEADER initiative, work to promote the active involvement of local communities in the development of rural areas.

Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria will each have 10 associations in the new network, while Mauritania will have two. Libya turned down the invitation to attend the Medenine meeting but pledged to join in later. According to a press release from host organisation ADD, the network's primary goal is to propagate a spirit of collaboration among rural communities and set up association partnerships to realise objectives, build capacities and develop human resources.

ADD President Abdulhamid Zammouri added that the network will enable associations throughout the Maghreb to "help each other and get necessary means to implement their activities". "The second operational objective," Zammouri continued, "is to organise and support North-South co-operation from rural area to rural area, similar to the transnational co-operation already in place for the EU's local action (LEADER) programme in Europe".

Speaking with Magharebia on April 21st, network vice-president Omar Chibane, head of the Adrar Association in Morocco, said the network aims at exchanging expertise on problems shared by rural Maghreb communities, offering collective development programmes to benefit targeted provinces, enhancing scientific research in fields of local development and combating desertification. "The work of the network is promising", Chibane noted, '"in terms of consolidating the efforts of involved associations". He added, however, that "those efforts vary depending on the growth rates of those associations within the countries where they are located".

Chibane ranked Morocco as the leading North African state in collective efforts, in terms of numbers and experience, while also appreciating the size and presence of rural associations in Tunisia, Algeria and Mauritania. He added that the work of the associations would benefit from Maghreb countries opening up to civil society, allowing them to reach the target population and attain advanced levels of sustained local development.

For smoother collaboration between associations in several countries and to bolster scientific research, seminar participants recommended setting up five R&D institutes: Agronomic and Veterinary Institute Hassan II (Morocco); Desert Studies Centre, Nouakchott University (Mauritania); Montpellier Mediterranean Agricultural Institute (France); Algerian Agricultural Institute, and Medenine Arid Regions Institute (Tunisia). http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2008/04/24/feature-02
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Morocco, Microsoft ink strategic partnership agreement.
2008-04-24

Microsoft Corporation CEO Steven Ballmer and Morocco's Minister of Industry, Commerce and IT Ahmed Chami signed a strategic partnership agreement on Tuesday (April 22nd) in Rabat. The accord provides for a number of joint activities aimed at increasing technical capacity in Morocco's educational, economic and administrative sectors. The accord also calls for the creation of Microsoft Academies in several Moroccan universities and the construction of a Microsoft Innovation Centre. Speaking at a news conference following the signature ceremony, Ballmer highlighted Morocco's strategic geographic location and skilled workforce as factors contributing to the potential of the country's IT sector. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2008/04/24/newsbrief-04
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France to fund Moroccan development initiative.
2008-04-25

France will grant 2m euros to Morocco's National Human Development Initiative (INDH), MAP reported on Thursday (April 24th). The decision falls under the framework of the financial aid agreement signed during French Prime Minister François Fillion's recent visit to the Kingdom. The sum is part of the 8m euros promised by French President Nicolas Sarkozy during his visit to Morocco last October. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2008/04/25/newsbrief-06
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Sufi culture festival aims to spread tolerance and peace.
By Sarah Touahri  2008-04-25

Interest in Sufism has intensified in recent years as people seek an alternative to extremism. This week's festival in Fes is drawing young people who are interested in learning what Sufi culture and music are all about. Across the centuries, Sufism has helped bridge the divide between East and West. As Moroccans show a growing interest in Sufism and its principles of tolerance and peace, organisers gave the April 17th-24th festival of Sufi culture in Fes the name "East West."

"[Sufi culture] allows us to discover and make Islam accessible as a civilisation project; and thus to sign up to a form of value-driven Islam which encourages civil and constructive attitudes and behaviour," festival chairman Faouzi Skali told Magharebia. Because of globalisation, Skali added, cultures, identities, religions and spiritual concepts are returning to centre stage in a violent fashion known as the "clash of civilisations".

"Our world is currently searching for true wisdom, a universal spiritual way, a sort of true balance which could hold back this globalisation built on the elimination of certain cultures and ways of thinking to benefit others," he concluded.

Mustafa Chérif, an Algerian researcher who specialises in dialogue between cultures and civilisations, addressed the same issue at the festival's opening, saying that Sufism is capable of finding solutions by bringing harmony and recognising difference and diversity. He believes that the only real spirituality is that linking man: the spirit of the East and the reason of the West. While the interest shown by Moroccans in Sufi culture is not new, it has intensified in recent years in order to face the global rise of extremism, sociologist Jamal Bahrioui explained.

"This kind of event is aimed at attracting the greatest possible number of Moroccans to sign up to this culture, which leads human beings to reconciliation among themselves and society, and thus to spreading the culture of tolerance and peace," Bahrioui said, adding, "The youths are the most involved in this."

Indeed, there has been a high turnout of young people in Fes this week for the festival. Some are already familiar with the concept of Sufism, while others seek to satisfy their curiosity. Student Sellam Mohamedine came from Oujda to the spiritual capital to join in some of the festival's programme of activities. "I came to meet thinkers and intellectuals to debate the importance of Sufism. I think that if we are to thwart the ills of the current age, including stress and extremism, we ought to turn to this culture," he said.

Among the festival's most popular features are the concerts given by Sufi troupes and groups from the various brotherhoods. It is more than entertainment, however; music is at the heart of of Sufism. As Moroccan singer Oumnia Abou Amal explained, the apotheosis of the Sufi mystical process is spiritual song showing moral responsibility and a great sensitivity. "Sufi music is an expression of sacred song," Moroccan musicologist Abdelfettah Benmoussa tells Magharebia. "[It] corresponds to the spiritual state of one to whom celestial music – primordial and absolute sound – becomes audible: the divine word."

The festival of Sufi culture brought together a swathe of artists, researchers and intellectuals from several foreign countries. The programme also included discussions on Sufism and Dhikr (invocation) evenings led by brotherhoods from various countries and cultures.

It is our hope that you will use this forum to interact with other readers across the Maghreb. In order to keep this experience interesting, we ask you to follow the rules outlined in the comments policy. By submitting comments, you are consenting to these rules. While Magharebia.com encourages discussion on all subjects, including sensitive ones, the comments posted are solely the views of those submitting them. Magharebia.com does not necessarily endorse or agree with the ideas, views, or opinions voiced in these comments. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2008/04/25/feature-02
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Morocco adopts new strategy to promote agriculture sector competitiveness.
Meknes (140 km east of Rabat), Apr. 22

Seeking to promote the agriculture sector's competitiveness so that the sector becomes the driving force for Morocco's economic growth in the coming fifteen years, the Moroccan government adopted a new strategy dubbed "Green Morocco Plan." The six-point strategy was revealed Tuesday by the Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Aziz Akhannouch, before king Mohammed VI at the opening ceremony of the first National Agriculture Conference, held under the theme "Vision of Tomorrow, for a Competitive Agriculture" on the eve of the international agriculture fair, held in the period April 23-28 in the city.

The strategy takes into account the diversity of actors, socio-economic constraints facing them and the need to handle the root issues of Moroccan agriculture, linked particularly to the weakness of professionals. The strategy, he said, breaks with the traditional perception which distinguishes between modern agriculture and social agriculture.

The minister also spoke of the investment issues in the economic sector over the coming decade and those relating to the ability of Morocco's economy to attract new investments both national and foreign. The goal, he said, is to carry out 1000 to 1500 projects based on an enhanced economic model.

On this occasion, five agreements were signed between the government and the sector professionals intended to develop Moroccan agriculture and promote its competitiveness.

The first memorandum of understanding touches on the aggregation of the cereals sector. It aims to make the state-owned “Office national des Phosphates” a pilot model of aggregation as part of this new strategy and enhance productivity.

The second agreement touches on setting up an agricultural development finance company to enable small farmers with projects to have access to banking finance.

The third agreement concerns upgrading poultry. The fourth aims at upgrading the sugar sector to rise to the new challenges posed by globalization. As to the fifth agreement, it is designed to improve the production of citrus fruits through the expansion of cultivated areas and the use of new technologies.

The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister, Abbas El Fassi, the speakers of the Moroccan Parliament’s two houses, members of the government and actors and professionals of the sector.

The first conference brings together 1000 participants, including Moroccan and foreign operators, along with officials from different departments concerned and financial bodies.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_economy/morocco_adopts_new_s/view
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