Rabat – The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s last multidimensional report on Morocco is a strong signal of alarm, inviting all the recipients to carry out a major reflection on the reorientation of our socio-economic development model.
While agricultural wealth is an essential determining of the growth in our country, it is strongly impacted by weather conditions which are at the mercy of climatic change. If sustainable development puts agriculture in the middle of its concerns, this should not limit its durability in the environmental dimension. It’s necessary to modernize our agricultural processes and to develop agricultural industries to improve Morocco’s exportations.
An economy extended to the general interest of the citizens must also cover the secondary and tertiary sectors (manufacturing, industrial, information technology, performances of service, automotive construction, aeronautics, among others) and this, by the means of equitable, inclusive, and perennial socio-economic development, one obviously with an ecological dimension.
However, the human factor remains essential to ensure a durable transition. This would require the transfer of competences and the upgrade of human resources. Morocco must adopt new “foreign” trades and invest in research and development and innovation, beyond simply making labor available to the profit of foreign investors and promoting social employment.
Nevertheless, the durable economy will have to be built on a new approach, touching all the reforms undertaken via the horizontal interdepartmental coordination of the projects and the synchronization of all the actions undertaken (public and private), while basing itself on several aspects such as: the new model of regional governance, the development of the public-private partnerships in various sectors of production, the promotion of the Moroccan startups, the digital transformation of companies, and the modernization of the Moroccan administration.
Each year, we lose approximately 3.5 percent of our GDP. This is due to the degradation of the environment. This situation can only be improved by national mobilization which challenges all the stakeholders (Government, Parliament, Institutions, Companies, Civil Society and Citizens) to contribute to the safeguarding and protecting of our environment. However, we need concrete measures, for examples: ecological incentives, penalties for pollutants, tax exemptions encouraging the use of renewable energies, and even sanctions of environmentally irresponsible citizens.
Large Casablanca, as example, is the loser in this environmental equation due to high greenhouse gas emissions, which threaten the health of Casablanca residents and even hurt
the climate and the atmosphere of the region. If nothing is done with short medium term, it will likely get worse. We know very well the situation in China.
In the same way, “green” industry and the development of “digital” services will help place Morocco the emerging countries. This will be based on a global and inclusive approach, as the catalyst of this new growth founded on an awareness program. Indeed, during COP22, the representatives of Morocco confirms the political commitment of the Kingdom defend nature and safeguard the environment of the nation, while integrating in the dynamics of operationalization of the Paris agreement. This aims in theory to limit high carbon emissions responsible for the planetary climatic disorder, while innovating even in the development of green projects “made in Morocco.”
So the improvement of the climatic conditions of our country will generate a good pluviometry and a balanced distribution of precipitations, which will be directly advantageous with the agricultural sector, in order to maintain the expected growth rate.
The development of a new, sustainable socioeconomic model will have to answer in the long term the problems of unemployment. And knowing that one does not create in Morocco of public posts of employment except growth, the satisfaction of the 200,000 new job-seekers remains practically impossible with the current situation. We will not exceed 4 percent of growth from here the end of the year, whereas it is necessary to have 8 percent of growth per year to satisfy the market demands with employment.
The recasting of our development model will have to be based on 10 concrete measures: the upgrade of competences, the opening electronic of the administration, the technological mutation of companies, the development of research, the encouragement of green projects, the promotion of public-private partnerships, the support of the creation of startups, deployment of participative and inclusive democracy, the follow-up and evaluation of building sites in the course of execution, and implement a transversal policy of the reforms undertaken.
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