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Rabat – The opening of the mining regions of Tafilalet and Figuig, in eastern Morocco, to investments will bring income to traditional miners working in the region, protect their assets, and develop their working methods, said Morocco’s Minister of Energy, Mines, and Environment, Aziz Rabbah.
During a presentation on July 20 about Decree 2-18-442 relating to the mining regions of Tafilalet and Figuig, Rabbah stressed that the opening of the regions for investment will help double the number of transactions, increase tax revenues, and create several thousand jobs.
The decree, approved on May 28, complements Law 74-15 relating to the restructuring of the traditional mining sector in Morocco. The legal text aims to establish judicial mechanisms to enhance the attractiveness of national and foreign investments in the mining sector in Tafilalet and Figuig.
The regions are known for being rich in minerals such as zinc, baryte, manganese, iron, copper, and fluorite.
The decree also divides the regions into mining zones and sets up mechanisms for managing relations between companies and traditional miners to preserve their rights.
According to Rabbah, an integrated system covering industrialization, scientific research, and training human resources will accompany the investments.
The minister expressed his optimism that the region will attract investments in the short term. He justified his forecast with the existing structures in the concerned regions, as well as Morocco’s efforts to reform the investment system.
The ministry will accompany the investments and facilitate administrative procedures to promote development in the regions, Rabbah pledged.
The new legal text is also set to improve central governance in the mining regions, the minister said, through the creation of a board of directors. The board will include representatives from investing companies, as well as representatives of the traditional miners.
Following Rabbah’s presentation, the director of the purchasing and development department in Tafilalet and Figuig, Abderrahim Dinar, stressed that, thanks to the law, the region will open up in a balanced way.
The investments will take into consideration both the lucrativeness of the mining business and the interests of traditional miners who have been working in the regions for several decades, he assured.
The new investment system, set out by Decree 2-18-442, strengthens the role of the purchasing and development department, Dinar said.
“We will move from a limited mode of minerals’ sales and purchases to a development model,” he explained.
Tafilalet and Figuig will undergo a “transformation,” thanks to the new model, especially as the regions are rich in mineral resources, the majority of which has not yet been explored, Dinar concluded.
