Rabat – The Moroccan Observatory of Very Small and Medium-Sized Businesses’ (OMTPME) latest annual report details the negative effects sustained by the country’s small companies due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Released on Friday, the report says that more than 20,000 businesses have reported a reduction in size due to the negative effects of the pandemic.
The report also noted that more than 16% of small and medium businesses worldwide had to temporarily, or permanently, suspend their businesses during 2020, with 2.2% of them completely shutting down.
Morocco’s large service sector saw a drop of 5.8% in terms of its share to the country’s overall added value, due mainly to the effect of pandemic-related public health restrictions on the hospitality sector. Hotels and restaurants saw their added value plummet by more than 50% in 2020.
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Despite the economic hardship caused by COVID-19, the report does however highlight a slight recovery in 2021.
While 2020 saw a 10.5% decrease in the number of small businesses created, compared to the year before, 2021 saw a 23.4% increase, bringing the number of new businesses to more than 100,000.
Much like the rest of the world, Morocco’s economy suffered greatly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Business closures and layoffs have led to an increased level of poverty and financial vulnerability, recent reports showed.
As Morocco continues to navigate the post-COVID-19 world, and try to bring its economy back up to 2019 numbers, it must also reckon with new threats as environmental issues and geopolitical conflicts continue affecting the global economy.
