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Rabat – Moroccan activist, professor, and head of the Unified Socialist Party (PSU) Nabila Mounib has broken her silence on the media campaign aimed at spreading awareness among Moroccans about the high cost of certain products in the country.
The campaign, launched last week, has been spreading its influence among Moroccan people, officials, and politicians, about the high prices of Sidi Ali (bottled water), Afriquia (gasoline) and Centrale Laitière (dairy products).
In a recent party meeting, Mounib heavily criticized the “exorbitant prices” of the aforementioned products.
According to Mounib, people behind the campaign are “young people, who have a great political conscience and know what is happening in the country” and are looking forward to shifting the monopoly exercised by some companies.
Referring to the Sidi Ali company, managed by CGEM standing CEO Meriem Bensaleh, Mounib criticized the Bensaleh for poor quality products.
“The family takes advantage of the mineral and aerated waters and sells them to Moroccans at exorbitant prices with a plastic of bad quality,” she said.
Announcing her full support to the campaign, Mounib said: “We should end the monopoly of companies in order to have a competitive economy and lower prices of goods.”
Mounib’s message followed statements by public officials, including Nabil Benabdellah, former Minister of Housing and Urban Policy and Secretary General of the Party of Progress and Socialism; and Nizar Baraka, President of the Social Economic and Environmental Council, former Minister of Economy and Finance, and head of the Istiqlal Party.
Both officials voiced their support for the campaign, describing it as a call for change.
Benabdellah also linked the campaign with the Jerada, Al Hoceima, and Zagora protests, which erupted in Morocco in 2016, 2017, and 2018, calling on the government to meet social demands of citizens.
Baraka has also commented on the campaign, calling on the government to listen to the message conveyed by the boycott, rather than looking for the people behind the campaign.
“The important thing is not to know who is behind the campaign, but rather to understand the message conveyed.”
Boycott Outcomes
Moroccan newspaper Akhbar Al Yaoum reported today that Afriquia gas, owned by Moroccan Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries (and Forbes’s richest man in Morocco) Aziz Akhannouch, has lost MAD 15 million since the launch of the boycott on April 21.
According to the newspaper, the Afriquia gas stations, typically found alongside Marjane and Acima supermarkets across the country, lost between 25 and 45 percent of its daily revenue. In Nador, Afriquia gas station lost 47 percent of revenue, while in Casablanca, the company lost 39 percent.
The Afriquia headquarters in Casablanca did not respond to MWN’s request for verify of the reported statistics.
Akhannouch already expressed his opinion regarding the campaign at the ongoing International Agriculture Fair (SIAM), currently held in Meknes. Akhannouch announced his support to Central Laitière for dairy products and said that internet campaign cannot stop 470,000 employees in the dairy sector. Furthermore, he reprimanded citizens, saying they should be thankful for the fact that there are no milk shortages and the product is available throughout the year.
Moroccan Minister of Economy and Finance Mohamed Boussaid has also denounced the campaign, emphasizing that “We must encourage Moroccan companies and products, unlike some fools who call for a boycott of Moroccan companies.”
The boycott remains ongoing throughout the country. The boycotted companies have not yet released any official response.
