Rabat – Approximately 41,24 enterprises were created in Morocco in 2017, up 3 percent from 2016, according to data from the Trade Registry.
The Moroccan Office of Industrial and Commercial Property recorded a growth rate of +3 percent, having issued 73,451 business applications in 2017. These requests were chiefly recorded in three sectors, namely services, trade, and construction.
The limited liability company remains the predominant business structure at 50.5 percent, followed by single-partner limited liability companies at 47.8 percent of the total number of business start-ups created last year.
In terms of the regional company distribution, the Casablanca-Settat region maintained its first place ranking for the attractive and favorable business region at 36 percent.
Rabat-Salé-Kenitra trailed at 15 percent, while the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region and Marrakech-Safi both recorded 11 percent.
The rate of sole proprietorships, the simplest business model, also increased by more than 8 percent compared to 2016.
38,065 individual companies were registered against 35,118 in 2016, with the highest rate recorded in f Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima at 21 percent, followed by the Oriental region at 16 percent and Casablanca-Settat at 10 percent.
Many of these Moroccan enterprises are not limited toMorocco, as their presence has seen an exponential increase in other African markets.
According to a joint statement by the Moroccan Association of Exporters (ASMEX) and the American consultancy firm Bearing Point issued in late 2016, Moroccan enterprises are making their mark in Cameroon, the Ivory Coast, Mali, and Senegal.
According to the same statement, just five years ago “for 86 percent of Moroccan companies surveyed, Africa accounted for less than 5 percent of their turnover.” This year’s data shows that nearly 20 percent of the surveyed Moroccan companies “estimate that Africa will account for more than 50 percent of their total turnover in the next five years.”
