BCG Casablanca Denies Responsibility for Morocco's Deconfinement Strategy

Rabat – The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Casablanca released a statement today, April 22, to refute claims that the Moroccan government has entrusted the company to formulate a deconfinement strategy.

While BCG Casablanca has and continues to work closely with the Ministry of Health and other government entities, they clarified that they have not been directly mandated to prepare an official strategy to lift the lockdown.

BCG Casablanca stated that they will continue to aid Moroccan ministries by providing data and analysis on recent international experiences, free of charge, to maintain a strict framework of national solidarity.

BCG is an American management consulting firm. Its Casablanca branch primarily consults CEOs and ministers within Morocco’s economic sector to develop long-term competitive advantage within the international markets.

On April 18, Morocco’s government council agreed to extend the lockdown, initially set to expire on April 20, for an additional month. Following an increase of COVID-19 cases, the state of health emergency is now effective until May 20.

Morocco’s Minister of Health Khalid Ait Taleb said on April 20 that the health ministry is planning to develop a strategy that will help the country to lift its lockdown gradually.

“The lockdown will be lifted gradually at the national level, since the epidemiological situation remains stable, but differs from one region to another,” he said.

He added that over 2,000 COVID-19 tests are administered daily and the number of analyses will be extended thanks to the increasing use of rapid tests.

Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani said on April 21 that the spread of COVID-19 will ultimately determine when Morocco can lift its state of emergency, but the country will follow a “special, well-studied strategy” when easing lockdown measures.

The Moroccan government will announce the details of the lockdown lift and the post-pandemic strategy when the “time is right” and after consulting with all concerned sectors.