Rabat – Zineb El Adaoui, First President of the Supreme Court of Accounts, flagged the low completion rate of development projects in a parliamentary session today.
She said that out of 78 program contracts signed in the presence of King Mohammed VI between 2008-2020, only 32 were fully completed, representing just 9% of financial execution, totaling MAD 16.6 billion (over $1.812 billion).
El Adaoui further stressed how projects under State-region program contracts between 2020 and 2022 achieved an average completion rate of only 9%, while no new contracts have been signed for the 2022–2027 period.
Evaluations of earlier integrated territorial development programs (2008–2022) showed that only 26% of programs were completed by number and 14% by budget, with 41 programs delivered at MAD 6.3 billion out of a total MAD 45 billion across 158 programs.
The dysfunctions were revealed during the court’s 2023 audit missions, El Adaoui said, stressing the importance of the involvement of the High Planning Commission and the National Observatory for Human Development in monitoring territorial development indicators.
The president also recommended the engagement of national universities and research centers in fields such as economic geography, geoeconomics, and territorial sociology to improve the accuracy of targeting.
El Adaoui noted the importance of realism in preparing programs and projects, emphasizing avoiding the announcement of unrealistic initiatives.
“This involves defining achievable objectives and projects based on the actual capacity to mobilize the necessary financial resources and the feasibility of completing them within the set timeline, which strengthens the reliability of territorial planning, the credibility of public commitments, and trust in institutions,” she said.
In her presentation, El Adaoui said financial courts are determined to continue developing operational methods to serve Morocco’s development trajectory and establish a relationship of trust between citizens and institutions.
She also emphasized the commitment of the financial courts to reinforce the sense of financial judicial security, to contribute to combating corruption and improving public administration, and to ensure the tangible impact of programs and public projects.
“We also ensure that the outcomes of our various audit activities serve as mechanisms that foster financial judicial security, help relevant cu aprties urb corruption, protect public managers from mismanagement, and support timely and appropriate decision-making to improve public administration and enable citizens to benefit more fully from services and the effects of programs and projects,” she said.
