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Rabat – The World Bank Group has issued its “Doing Business” report for 2020, evaluating the regulations enhancing and constraining business activities in 190 countries.
One-hundred-twenty-eight Moroccan private and public institutions joined firms and institutions worldwide who filed questionnaires to support the assessment..
“Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 190 economies,” the report explains.
Data in “Doing Business 2020” are current as of May 1, 2019.
The report demonstrates regulations affecting 12 areas of life, namely starting a business, dealing with construction permits, accessing electricity, registering property, accessing credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency, employing workers, and contracting with the government.
Overall business regulation rankings reflect where each of the 190 countries stands in terms of the ease of doing business. Morocco ranks 53 worldwide with a score of 73.4, making it the second African country after Rwanda (38) with a score of 76.5.
Within North Africa, Morocco is followed by Tunisia (76) with a score of 68.7, Egypt (114) with a score of 60.1, and Algeria (157) with a score of 48.6. Algeria is among the 50 lowest-ranked countries.
The first ranked worldwide is New Zealand with a score of 86.8 and the last is Somalia with a score of 20.
Compared to its ranking in “Doing Business 2019,” Morocco has climbed seven places, moving up from its previous rank of 60 and score of 71.02. In 2018, Morocco ranked 69 with a score of 67.91.
The 2020 report links difficulties that Morocco might be facing to “insufficient reform follow-through,” indicating that the country stopped publishing statistics on the number of property transactions and land disputes.
However, “Doing Business” ranks Morocco among the 42 economies that improved across three or more of the 12 areas in 2018/2019, implementing regulatory reforms to make it easier to do business.
Morocco’s support for SMEs
The ranking may jump in the next report after Morocco launched on January 27 to support businesses, aiming to reshape Moroccan economy and open entrepreneurship opportunities.
King Mohammed VI chaired the signing ceremony of the “integrated program to support and finance enterprises” that gathered Minister of Economy and President of Bank al-Maghrib Mohamed Benchaaboun and CEO of BMCE Bank of Africa Othman Benjelloun.
The main action of the program was the creation of a MAD 6 billion ($600 million) fund to benefit young project leaders and small- and medium-sized enterprises.
Thanks to the program, small businesses will have the opportunity to become medium-sized businesses in the upcoming years, and then to become large businesses, according to the Chairman of Credit Agricole du Maroc bank, Tariq Sijilmassi.
The integrated program covers three main initiatives, including the financing of entrepreneurship, the coordination of support actions for entrepreneurship at the regional level, and the financial inclusion of rural populations.
