Here are the main headlines developed by the national press for this Wednesday, November 13, 2024
The morning
Rural electrification: practically generalized access for 25.3 billion DH of investment
With a colossal investment of 25.3 billion dirhams, the rural electrification program has benefited 13 million Moroccans, bringing the rate of access to electricity from 18% in 1995 to almost 100% today. This ambitious project, supported by ONEE and partly financed by international partners, does not just light up homes: it boosts the rural economy, modernizes infrastructure and reduces inequalities between urban and rural areas.
Climate resilience: Morocco on an arganiculture development project on 10,000 hectares
Morocco intends to make a substantial change in its argan farming ecosystem. The Agency for Agricultural Development is on a project to plant 10,000 ha of argan trees in addition to the organization of the upstream and downstream of the value chain of the sector. The objective is to make the fruit of the argan tree, currently collected from the natural forest, an agricultural product. Likewise, the extension of areas dedicated to arganiculture will make it possible to strengthen the climate resilience of vulnerable areas in the regions of Souss-Massa, Guelmim-Oued Noun and Marrakech-Safi.
L’Opinion
OCP vs Mosaic: the underside of a standoff
For more than four years, the OCP group has shown resilience in the American market in the face of the offensives of its competitor Mosaic, which aspires to a monopoly. In the maneuver, the Florida-based giant has been working since 2020 to convince the American authorities to massively tax Moroccan fertilizers under the pretext of a suspicion of dumping that has never been proven. The US Department of Commerce has once again raised countervailing duties on OCP fertilizers to 16.81%. A decision contested by the Moroccan giant which intends to appeal. “This type of defensive measures, now amplified, aims to maintain a competitiveness that some consider threatened by the performance of OCP, capable of competing through the quality and cost of its products,” declared Anas Abdoun, industry analyst. economic and geopolitical prospective, in the newspaper.
Railway projects: Kayouh reveals targeted investments for a reinvented experience
During his first intervention at the weekly oral questions session in the House of Representatives, the Minister of Transport and Logistics, Abdessamad Kayouh, unveiled an ambitious roadmap for the transformation of the Moroccan railway sector. This program, which includes strategic investments amounting to 87 billion dirhams for the period 2025-2030, as well as the opening of a train manufacturing factory, aims to modernize infrastructure and strengthen the industrial autonomy of the country, thus consolidating its position as a regional and international leader in the railway sector.
Eco inspirations
PLF 2025: approved amendments
540 amendments were proposed by the opposition and majority parties as part of the 2025 Finance Bill. For the moment, the amendments adopted concern the Morocco-Nigeria gas pipeline project as well as the provisions relating to sporting events planned to be organized in Morocco, namely the 2025 Africa Cup and the 2030 World Cup. Amendments relating to the encouragement of national industry were also approved by the Finance Commission to the House of Representatives. Concerning customs duties, several amendments were also accepted, such as the adjustment of certain measures.
A giant step forward in the structuring of the capital market
The futures market finally sees the light of day. After more than a decade of preparation, this ambitious initiative introduces derivatives products into financial infrastructures. It represents a key step towards the modernization and strengthening of the capital market, while positioning Morocco as a key player in the region and offering investors new tools for better risk management.
Liberation
Crédit du Maroc OPV: nearly 21.3 million shares requested
The public offer for sale (OPV) of Crédit du Maroc shares, initiated by Holmarcom Finance Company, recorded a total demand of nearly 21.3 million shares for an offer of 1,229,577 shares, according to the technical results of the operation published on the Casablanca Stock Exchange website. The average rate of satisfaction of the request was thus 5.77%, with an allocated amount of more than one billion dirhams (MMDH), specifies Crédit du Maroc, reporting 13,080 subscribers from 31 nationalities.
Al-Ahdath al-Maghribia
Territorial Administration Inspectorate reveals irregularities
The Minister of the Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit, revealed during the presentation of his department’s sectoral budget that the General Inspectorate of Territorial Administration carried out 60 audit and support missions in 2024 and 91 monitoring missions. investigation and investigation during the same period. These audits and investigations made it possible to identify numerous irregularities and abuses, to adopt corrective and disciplinary measures and to refer the irregularities noted to the competent judicial authorities. The reports drawn up during the current year by the Inspectorate gave rise to several proceedings against municipal and elected presidents. These proceedings not only resulted in the dismissal of the officials concerned by the administrative courts, but reports proving accusations of squandering and embezzlement of public funds were also referred to the courts.
Assaba
PLF 2025: 511 amendments to the budget rejected
The government rejected 511 opposition amendments concerning the PLF 2025. The majority groups introduced 28 amendments, some of which were accepted during a meeting organized at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, attended by representatives of the majority groups, as well as the Minister of Economy and Finance Nadia Fettah and the Minister Delegate in charge of the Budget Faouzi Lekjaa. The USFP Group in the House of Representatives broke the record for the number of amendments presented, reaching 167, including 26 relating to customs and 108 to taxes, among others, followed by the PJD group, which presented 137 amendments, including 98 tax changes, 23 customs changes and 16 miscellaneous.
Al Massae
Dysfunctions in the employment of casual workers mobilize the Ministry of the Interior
According to information obtained by the daily from private sources, the Ministry of the Interior has taken measures to reduce dysfunctions and abuses committed in the employment of casual workers in local authorities at the national level. The Minister of the Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit, wrote to his services at the level of the regions, prefectures and provinces of the Kingdom in order to draw up detailed reports on the situation of casual workers in all local authorities. The same sources indicated that the ministry decided to launch this investigation because it noted that the costs involved in the employment of this category of workers exhaust the budget of the municipalities. He discovered deficiencies in recruitment procedures, in violation of the Code of Obligations and Contracts.
