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Morocco is pursuing a thoroughgoing privatisation strategy with the
prime aim of attracting foreign investment which is regarded as
increasingly vital in the context of ongoing economic dislocation
provoked by drought which has repeated sand severe repercussions
throughout the Moroccan economy not confined to agriculture.
A decline in FDI by some 34 per cent was recorded between the previous
two years, 2000 and 1999, although it is expected to rise again this
year. In 2000 total FDI stood at $1.17 billion. The significance
placed on privatisation is reflected in a government statement that no
sectors will be exempt from the policy. Along with banks, air
transport and the tobacco industry, firms are lined up for
privatisation in clothing (Cotef) and textiles (Setafil).
While the Gulf states are diversifying away from oil, Morocco must
diversify away from dependency on agriculture, which leaves the
country's economy too precariously dependent on rainfall. In general
the privatisation programme first launched in 1993 continues to
attract investment and the extent of revenues received have prevented
the country from going into the red.
While some proposals have been delayed or are moving at a slower pace
than originally conceived, some successes have been achieved, such as
in telecommunications and plans continue in other areas, for example,
the sale of state tobacco monopoly Regie de Tabacs, in a bid to open
up competition. Some major national banks are also lined up for
privatisation, including Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP). Royal Air
Ways is to be privatised in the coming year.
Management contracts are being concluded with private operators in
public utilities and infrastructure projects where modernisation is an
urgent task. For example, only half of the country's villages have an
electricity supply. The government has a target to electrify 1,500
more villages each year and plans to electrify every single village by
2010.
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