Formation of Morocco’s Government Coalition
Media outlets write about Morocco’s newly-appointed moderate Islamist Prime Minister, Abdelilah Benkirane, who has begun talks to form a government coalition following his movement’s victory in last week’s elections. “We are in the middle of meetings to form the next government,” he told AFP, a day after King Mohammed VI appointed him as Prime Minister. Three parties in the outgoing government – the independent Istiqlal, with 60 seats, the liberal Rally of Independents, with 52, and the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP), with 39 – have declared themselves ready for talks.
Groupe OCP
Oxford Business Group published an article on Moroccan production of phosphate that is set to increase significantly as the country’s phosphate monopoly, the Office Chérifien des Phosphates (Groupe OCP), embarks on a massive investment program, funded in large part through publicly-traded bonds.
In September Groupe OCP went to the private debt markets for the first time in its history, launching a Dh2bn (€177.8m) bond issue with a maturity of seven years that was oversubscribed nearly sevenfold. About Dh1.8bn (€160m) of the issue have been listed on the Casablanca stock exchange.
The transparency requirements of the issue led the company to publish its financial results in unprecedented detail. According to the figures, OCP’s 2010 profits stood at Dh8.85bn (€786.8m), on turnover of Dh46.3bn (€4.1bn). The Group’s long-term debt fell by approximately 10% on 2009 to around Dh10bn (€889.1m) at the end of 2010, while its capital increased to Dh24.4bn (€2.2bn) thanks to high phosphate prices.
2011 has also been a good year for the firm, with phosphate rock prices in September standing 40% higher than they did at the beginning of the year. Moroccan exports of phosphates and by-products grew by 34% by value in the first nine months of the year compared to the same period in 2010 to Dh35.4bn (€3.1bn), including exports of phosphate rock up 42% to Dh9bn (€800.4m), in spite of a 7% fall in volume.
The recent success at OCP, which is 94% owned by the Moroccan state – Moroccan banking group Banque Central Populaire owns the rest– and has a monopoly on phosphate mining in Morocco, should continue on the back of plans to invest a total of Dh98bn (€8.7bn) between 2010 and 2020 to increase annual phosphate production capacity to 50m tonnes per annum, from 26.4m tonnes as of 2010.
Politics
ABC News (12/01) – Newly appointed Morocco PM in coalition talks
Foreign Affairs (11/30) – Writing Constitutions in the Wake of the Arab Spring
Eurasia Review (11/30) – Morocco Gets Muslim Brotherhood PM – OpEd
Women’s Learning Partnership (11/30) – Reaping the Results of Three Decades of Feminist Activism: Constitutional Reforms in Morocco Set Precedent of Institutionalizing Gender Equality
PR Web (11/30) – Morocco News Agency – Morocco Elections: Future of Democracy, Democratic Process
Modern Ghana (11/30) – Italy / Ministry’s satisfaction with elections in Morocco
Economy/Business
Oxford Business Group (11/29) – Groupe OCP. Maroc : L’exploitation des phosphates s’intensifie
Genesis Morocco (11/29) – Algeria, Morocco boost agricultural collaboration
Society/Culture
The Republic (12/01) – Arab Film Festival at Dearborn’s national Arab museum focuses on pre-‘Arab Spring’ cinema
ANSAMED (11/30) – Culture: Montada, street art in Sale’ the 2 December
AJC.com (11/30) – In the news: Author of Moroccan cook book in Atlanta, Bell Street Burritos opens new location
Do It When You Are Young (11/29) – Reader Perspective: Living in Rabat Morocco
World/MENA Region
BBC (12/01) – UK legal move to stop non-EU nationals getting benefits
Eurasia Review (12/01) – Libya Imposes Visas On Mauritanians, Algerians
ABNA.co (12/01) – Israel must come to terms with Islamist reality in Arab world
The New York Times (11/30) – New Zealand Has World’s Cleanest Government, Survey Finds
Market Watch (11/30) – Experts at Congressional Hearing Warn of Threat to U.S. from Nigeria-Based Boko Haram, Link to AQIM
The Daily News Egypt (11/30) – Surging wages are risk, reward of Arab Spring
IPS (11/30) – Syrian Leader Survives on Unrelenting Russian-Chinese Support
