Rabat – The Moroccan Capital Markets Authority (AMMC) announced that the Abu Dhabi Fund For Development (ADFD) has sold 35,517 Ciments du Maroc shares to the central market at a unit price of MAD 1,660, decreasing the ownership threshold to 5 percent.
As a result of this transaction, which took place February 21, ADFD now holds 691,160 Ciments du Maroc shares, or 4.79 percent of the capital, according to a statement from Casablanca’s stocks, issued March 1.
ADFD is an autonomous institution established by the Government of Abu Dhabi in July 1971 and located in Abu Dhabi. Its main purpose is to support developing countries.
Starting 1974, ADFD managed UAE government grants totaling AED 5.5 billion across 55 projects in Morocco.
The fund has provided the country with approximately AED 3.5 billion in loans to finance 17 projects across the transport, housing, water, healthcare, and education sectors.
During 2016, the stagnation of the Moroccan cement market highlighted the crisis of the construction industry. Pushed by a severe drop in national economic growth, the cement market closed the year with a 0.70 percent decrease in domestic sales.
While sales showed a 5.9 percent increase during the beginning of 2016, they tumbled in subsequent quarters, canceling out the initial growth with three major declines: 10.8 percent for June, 19.1 percent for September, and 12.5 percent for December.
However, in July 2017 the cement market experienced a sursprising surge of sales, only to fall in August by 10.33 percent to 1.28 million tons against 1.31 percent in the same month of 2016, following the decline in construction activity.
