Rabat – Morocco’s Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE), currently the fifth largest and one of the oldest on the African continent, is home to some of Morocco’s richest people. The news site Billionaires.Africa has compiled a list of the Moroccan stock exchange’s richest individuals.
The Casablanca Stock Exchange was founded in 1929 – making it Africa’s third oldest bourse. There are 81 companies listed on the exchange, which makes it the fifth largest African exchange, following South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, and Mauritius. As of August 27, the exchange’s total market capitalization stood at MAD 652.10 billion ($72.65 billion), according to Billionaires.Africa.
Drawing on data from “investment agencies, the latest annual reports and confirmations from capital market registrars,” the African financial news portal listed 20 most successful individuals on the Casablanca exchange. The businesspersons’ share value is based on prices at the end of August 20 trading.
The exchange’s top broker is the Moroccan billionaire and banker, Othman Benjelloun. Co-founder and CEO of Bank of Africa, his net worth on the CSE is valued at $1.3 billion. Benjelloun holds a 33.39% stake in Bank of Africa.
The second richest individual on the exchange is Anas Sefrioui, the general president of the Groupe Addoha, Morocco’s largest real estate company. With a net worth of $312.7 million, he owns a 64.5% stake in the company.
Mohamed Tazi, with a net worth of $267,905,790, he is the third richest person on the stock exchange. He owns a 19.20% stake in the Societe de Therapeutique Marocaine SA (Sothema), founded by his father Omar Tazi.
Mohamed’s siblings, Najia Tazi (Net worth on the CSE – $136,883,114), Lamia Tazi ($117,208,783), Selma Tazi ($103,534,425), and Badiaa Tazi ($58,185,788), are the fourth, fifth, sixth, and eleventh richest people on the exchange, after their father left them shares of the company.
The Moroccan financial landscape is rapidly changing, bringing more opportunity for entrepreneurs and the general population alike. With Morocco’s King Mohammed VI’s 2035 vision for a “thriving and prosperous” Morocco, the country’s new development model will see the reorientation of fiscal exemptions and mobilization of foreign investments to help raise the country’s living standards.
