Online transactions in December 2020 alone totaled to MAD 1.4 million ($158,000), up significantly from MAD 900,000 ($102,000) in January of the same year.
Agadir – In the wake of COVID-19-imposed travel restrictions, e-commerce transactions using domestic cards saw an increase of 43% compared to Morocco’s figures in 2019.
Mikael Naciri, the CEO of Interbank Electronic Banking Centre (CMI), said on Wednesday as cited by Morocco’s state media that transactions totaled MAD 1.4 million ($158,000) in December alone. Transactions in January of 2020, in contrast, reached MAD 900,000 ($102,000).
During a webinar that the Logistics and Energy Competitiveness Commission of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM) hosted, Naciri said that e-commerce is experiencing solid momentum in Morocco, with a steady growth of online payments.
Besides COVID-19, a growing customer confidence in online commerce is also helping the trend. A sustained growth of online payments that resulted from widespread digitization of public services further contribute to the trend.
Naciri also explained that an increase in the number of e-commerce websites is also driving up online transactions, nearly double figures from 2019. By December 2020, the number of e-commerce websites had grown to 1,100, compared to the 772 existing in January 2020.
In 2015, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) ranked Morocco 72nd worldwide in the sector of e-commerce. However, despite positive signs regarding the development of e-commerce in Morocco, the same organization ranked Morocco 95th in the latest Index, dated from 2019.
According to a study PPRO published in 2018, Morocco’s e-commerce market was worth $4.2 billion (MAD 37 billion) at the time, experiencing an annual growth rate of 11.56%.
“With the rapid reduction in poverty, the increase in spending power and the growth of the industrial economy, there is money to be made in Morocco,” concluded the study.
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