Rabat – Morocco’s Ministry of Economy launched today, May 21, the online platform “tadamoncovid.ma” for workers in the informal sector to apply for financial aid during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The applications concern the third monthly stipends the ministry has allocated for informal workers who lost jobs due to Morocco’s nationwide lockdown.
The Moroccan government has already distributed the first stipends, for the month of March, and is currently distributing the second stipends, allocated for the month of April. The third operation will cover the month of May.
To apply, the heads of Moroccan households who lost their income must indicate their National Identity Card number, their mobile telephone number, and the number of family members within their household.
The online platform also includes a section to appeal the ministry’s decision in previous months, in case of rejected applications. Authorities will send an SMS message to the applicants as soon as their complaints are processed, notifying them of their appeal’s result.
Families registered in the program will receive financial aid depending in value on the size of the family.
Families of two people or fewer will receive stipends of MAD 800 ($80), while families of three to four people will receive MAD 1,000 ($100). Families of more than four people will receive MAD 1,200 ($120).
Morocco’s Special Fund for the Management and Response to COVID-19 is the sole sponsor for the program.
The first operation to support informal workers and their families started on April 16. It covered 4.3 million households with a budget of nearly MAD 4.2 billion ($427 million).
Meanwhile, the second operation started on May 14 and is still ongoing.
To collect their stipends, beneficiaries receive an SMS message on their mobile phones guiding them to the nearest bank or money transfer agency when their allowances are ready for withdrawal.
In order to avoid crowding at withdrawal points, the SMS messages are usually spread over several days.
However, the delays have led a large number of suspended workers to face financial uncertainty. The first operation took more than four weeks in total to cover all beneficiaries.
In a televised interview broadcasted on May 7, Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani explained that the delays occurred because the financial aid measure was unprecedented and took exceptional effort.
Teams worked day and night to make an accurate census of the beneficiaries, he said.
