Here are the main headlines developed by the national press for this Tuesday, December 17, 2024
L’Opinion
• Despite their desire to contribute to the economic development of Morocco, Moroccans Living Abroad (MRE), investors and entrepreneurs, face major obstacles, particularly administrative, financial and cultural. Lack of knowledge of the local market, difficulties in accessing acceleration financing and limits on foreign currency transactions are hampering their ambitions. If measures exist to facilitate the creation of businesses, their effectiveness remains to be strengthened to respond to the concrete challenges on the ground. Morocco, which aims to become a hub of innovative start-ups, must put in place a suitable path to mobilize this pool of skills and capital.
• Often the harshest criticisms of the state come from its own auditors. The report of the Court of Auditors is damning with regard to the execution and management of State expenditure, which remains far from obeying the rules of good governance as defined by the organic law of the Finance Law, recently reformed. The Court’s auditors point out a series of dysfunctions in the budgetary process characterized by the ambivalence of stakeholders and several deficiencies in terms of targeting, management and evaluation of the performance of expenditure and investment projects. So many failures which require better budgetary planning which is strongly recommended by the Court which is very critical of local authorities.
• Despite the measures implemented in recent months, meat prices remain beyond the purchasing power of many citizens. To remedy this situation, a delegation made up of CGEM officials and professionals from the sector made a four-day working visit to Catalonia. The objective is to establish commercial partnerships. This approach resulted in agreements with seven Spanish companies. From next Monday, two first shipments of red meat, each of 20 tonnes, are expected in Morocco. According to estimates, these imports should make it possible to offer wholesale prices ranging between 70 and 80 dirhams per kilogram.
The morning
• Between January 1, 2023 and September 30, 2024, Moroccan financial courts recorded 15,876 asset declarations, distributed between 1,239 declarations to the Court of Auditors and 14,637 to the Regional Courts of Auditors. Civil servants and public agents represent 89% of the declarations filed at the central level, while elected officials from local authorities constitute 65% of the declarations at the regional level. This increase is explained by the campaign for the compulsory renewal of declarations by local elected officials in February 2024, as required by law every two years.
• With imminent support of $200 million from the World Bank, a new Agri-Food Systems Transformation Program will be launched by the government for a total budget of $850 million. It aims to strengthen the resilience of rainfed agricultural areas, modernize agricultural insurance and guarantee food security in the face of climate change.
• The Court of Auditors has sounded the alarm on mental health in Morocco, highlighting profound gaps in the care of patients. Between the insufficiency of infrastructure, the lack of human resources and the absence of effective prevention, mental disorders remain an underestimated public health issue.
Liberation
• King Mohammed VI sent a message of congratulations to the King of Bahrain, Hamad Ben Issa Al Khalifa, on the occasion of his country’s national day. The sovereign took this opportunity to reiterate his satisfaction with the solidity of bilateral relations and the common desire of the two countries to continue the development of these excellent fraternal ties in all areas.
• Financial investors remain torn between a status quo and a cut in the Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) key rate, as the monetary policy meeting scheduled for December 17 approaches, according to a survey conducted by Attijari Global Research (AGR) . The probability of a status quo of the key rate stands at 55%, compared to 43% for a reduction of 25 basis points (pbs), specifies AGR in its recent “Research report – Strategy”, emphasizing that this survey was carried out among a sample of 35 investors considered among the most influential in the Moroccan financial market.
Al Bayane
• The Moroccan Parliament, with its two Chambers, the House of Representatives and the House of Advisors, organizes, in collaboration with the “Foundation of Meetings of the Future”, as well as the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic of Chile, the next edition of the “Congress of the Future”, on December 17 and 18 at the Parliament headquarters in Rabat. A Parliament press release indicates that this event will constitute an opportunity to exchange points of view between parliamentarians, government officials, scientists, researchers and key stakeholders on issues that concern the future of humanity, adding that the meeting will be marked by the participation of parliamentarians, ministers, officials and specialists from Morocco and Chile, as well as academics and experts from Europe, Africa and Latin America.
• Fifteen member states of the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO), including Morocco, launched a multilateral strategic initiative to promote the integrity of online content, during the United Nations Forum on Internet Governance. Internet, which takes place from December 15 to 19 in Saudi Arabia. Morocco is represented at this Forum by the Minister Delegate to the Head of Government, in charge of Digital Transition and Administration Reform, Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni, who is taking part in Riyadh in the DCO Ministerial Dialogue on Fake news.
Al Alam
• The Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Omar Hejira, indicated that the industrial indicators of the Laâyoune Sakia El Hamra region amounted to 7.2 billion dirhams in industrial transactions, and 230 million dirhams in terms of investments industrial, noting that the number of industrial export transactions amounted to around 5 billion dirhams coming mainly from food industries. During a regional consultative meeting, organized at the headquarters of the wilaya of the Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra region, Hejira stressed that this region offers favorable conditions for the production of renewable energies and green hydrogen because it has natural resources conducive to the production of solar and wind energy.
Al Ittihad alichtiraki
• OCP Africa, a subsidiary of the OCP Group, signed, in Niamey, a historic memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Niger, relating to the transformation of agricultural value chains. This partnership, supported by the World Bank, underlines OCP Africa’s commitment to sustainable agricultural development and the improvement of soil health and fertility in Niger, indicates OCP Africa in a press release.
Al Ahdat Al Maghribia
• According to well-informed sources, public slaughterhouses have been closed to importers of fresh meat on the grounds that they are not approved by the National Food Safety Office (ONSSA), which has forced some importers to seek services from private slaughterhouses to preserve the meat. According to the same sources, these slaughterhouses, although public, face several problems that hinder real integration into the red meat supply chain.
Assahra Al-Maghribia
• Nearly 300 people benefited from the services of a multidisciplinary medical caravan, organized on Saturday, in the commune of Oulad Sidi Abdelhakem (province of Jerada), as part of the “Riaya 2024-2025” operation. Organized by the provincial delegation of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection in Jerada, in coordination with local and provincial authorities, this humanitarian initiative aims to strengthen health services for the benefit of populations in areas suffering the effects of the wave of cold. It also aims to fill the deficit recorded in the province’s healthcare offering.
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