CGEM Introduces a New Institution to Morocco’s Economy

Fez – Morocco’s capital market enters a new era under the establishment of the Moroccan Association of Publicly Traded Companies (APE) that aims to bounce back the country’s economy and introduce new developments to the business environment.

APE was created on December 7, 2021, under the auspices of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM) and the Casablanca Stock Exchange, with the support of the Moroccan Capital Market Authority (AMMC).

The press release also indicated that both Mohamed Horani and Zouhair Bennani have been unanimously voted in respectively as chairman and vice-chairman of the newly-established body.

“Mohamed Horani, Chairman and CEO of HPS [Hightech Payment Systems] and Zouhair Bennani, Chairman and CEO of “Best Financiere”, were unanimously elected, respectively Chairman and Vice-Chairman General of the Association, during its Constitutive General Assembly, which took place on Tuesday, December 7, 2021, at the headquarters of the CGEM and which was attended by more than thirty companies making APE,” a CGEM press release stated.

CGEM further explained that the purpose behind this new body is to make proposals for legislative and regulatory development that facilitate the use of the capital market to assist the national economy’s recovery and development.

The set goals of the new association come in line with the recommendations of the report on the New Development Model, planning to raise market capitalization’s gross domestic product (GDP) to 70% by 2035 and reach 300 companies listed on the stock market by that time, compared to 76 currently.

On this matter, APE aims to carry out practical actions to improve the general business environment by enabling it to finance itself through the capital market.

As indicated, the APE’s primary goal is to help Morocco’s economy to recover and record considerable growth, especially amid the recent COVID-19 pandemic that has by and large affected the world economy overall.