Local development companies were created by local authorities to manage essential local projects. However, several of them, like those in Casablanca, have recently been criticized for poor financial management and excessive reliance on municipal budgets.
Local development companies (SDLs) are expected to play a key role in local development by facilitating the management of urban projects, infrastructure and events. However, in recent years they have become the subject of criticism, particularly due to their management and financial difficulties.
Several SDLs, such as “Casablanca Aménagement”, “Casablanca Events et Animation”, “Casablanca Prestations”, “Casablanca Baia” and “Casablanca Patrimoine” (the latter having been dissolved by the Casablanca City Council), have been pinned down by the magistrates of the Court of Auditors for their poor financial management and their inability to achieve the set objectives. These companies, which have spent millions of dirhams, have not succeeded in structuring themselves in such a way as to become autonomous. They remain largely dependent on municipal budgets and external contracts, without managing to free themselves from the constraints linked to electoral mandates, which has hampered their effectiveness.
As a result, some LDCs are in difficulty, with several of them mothballed, while others are close to bankruptcy. This situation raises questions about the relevance of their management model and their ability to fulfill their mission of supporting local development. However, these companies, due to their legal, organizational and financial forms, are designed to be essential tools in the implementation of regional development projects, in the expansion of advanced regionalization, as well as in the management of large land use and town planning projects.
To try to rectify the situation, the competent authorities are currently studying, in collaboration with local authorities, solutions to reorganize the SDL. One of the avenues envisaged is the creation of multi-service centers, in which the State could participate, in order to ensure better synergy between the different actors of local development and guarantee the long-term viability of these structures.
Morocco
