MEDI1TV Afrique : Zoom sur l’entrepreneuriat au Maroc avec Youssef Guerraoui Filali - 30/10/2024
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00:00Ladies and gentlemen, hello and welcome to Mediantv, entrepreneurship in Morocco is the
00:13subject of economic focus, the sustainability of companies is a major issue today and the
00:19TPE and TPME constitute a very important part of the national economic fabric, they represent
00:2698% of the companies in Morocco, they are the creators of value, employment and drive for
00:34growth. However, small companies face many difficulties,
00:40including access to funding. According to projections, the number of companies threatened
00:45with bankruptcy in Morocco could reach 40,000, 10,000 more than last year. Another projection,
00:51the number of cases of bankruptcy in companies should increase by 13% in 2024. This is what
00:58emerges from the latest report by the specialist in credit insurance, trade alliance, entrepreneurship
01:05in Morocco, state of the place, it is the subject of today and with me to talk about it, Mr. Yusf El Ghraoui.
01:10Hello and thank you for being with us, you are an economist. Hello madam, thank you for the invitation.
01:16A pleasure to have you. So we will start by first making the state of the place of the entrepreneurial fabric in Morocco.
01:23Indeed, the Moroccan entrepreneurial fabric is essentially made up of TPME, as you said,
01:29it is 95% of our economic fabric. TPME touches a very wide category of citizens,
01:38we are talking about people of the middle class, the upper middle class, we are talking about people who carry projects,
01:45it is the project bearers, it is the artisans, it is people who are essentially on the social economy,
01:53but who also do commerce and industry and BTP, really, it is a category of people today
02:00which is very wide and it is the essence of the Moroccan entrepreneurial fabric.
02:05It does not generate enough turnover in terms of growth, etc. It is not like the case of medium-sized companies,
02:14but in terms of quantity, in terms of diversity, TPME represents Moroccan society.
02:20So we have to invest in this TPME ecosystem today for more growth, more employment and more added value creation.
02:30Absolutely, madam. So when we look at developing countries, emerging countries,
02:36the majority of these countries are countries that have invested and supported their entrepreneurial fabric.
02:42So small, very small companies, self-employed entrepreneurs, project bearers,
02:47people who exercise their personal professions, people who are in self-employment,
02:53and also people who do freelance jobs. Absolutely, these economic companies are the engine of growth.
03:01So today, if we want to achieve growth rates that are higher than the current rates
03:06that we have recorded over the past ten years, which remain around 2.5% to 4%,
03:12if we want to go from 7% to 8% to 10% and join the spirit of the new development model,
03:18we must absolutely boost the Moroccan entrepreneurial fabric, not only in terms of financing,
03:22but above all in terms of support, technical assistance, growth in skills, productivity with quality,
03:30which will be necessary to, of course, integrate the value chains internationally,
03:34and of course, this support for entrepreneurial experimentation,
03:38for the growth in skills of entrepreneurs and project bearers,
03:41so that they can, of course, confirm themselves and join large markets,
03:46whether they are global markets or markets on a national scale.
03:49So going beyond the national market is the goal.
03:52Absolutely, exactly. It is also about exporting,
03:54so that these companies can become exporting companies,
03:59and these are companies that also do business with exports.
04:02That's what you were saying, these companies have to meet certain standards.
04:07Of course, there are international quality criteria,
04:10and first of all, they have to be ready on a national level.
04:13What does that mean?
04:14Professional companies, they have to professionalize their activities,
04:18companies that are capable today of submitting to public markets,
04:22to issue orders, whether at the private sector,
04:26at the public sector, at the institutional sector,
04:28and when we are ready on a national level,
04:31we will have to move on to the next step,
04:32which is opening up to global markets,
04:34responding to calls for international supply,
04:36and of course, concluding agreements
04:39where these companies will be able to export their products,
04:43to sell them internationally,
04:44as is the case for medium and large companies,
04:46and large family groups and holding companies in Morocco.
04:51I would like us to address this phenomenon,
04:52that of dormant companies in Morocco,
04:55which seem to be growing more and more.
04:58Indeed, I think that, first of all,
05:00we will have to provide a very quick definition
05:04of a dormant company.
05:05What is a dormant company?
05:07It is simply a company that has serious financial difficulties,
05:11and it is a company today that cannot honor its passive through its asset.
05:15That is to say, a company that cannot pay its suppliers,
05:18that cannot finance its operating cycle,
05:20nor pay its salaries, its patronal contributions, etc.
05:22Which is still there.
05:23And which is still there.
05:24It is not closed.
05:25It is not closed,
05:26but it is a company that is heading towards bankruptcy.
05:29So, it is not in a cessation of activity,
05:32it has not ceased to exercise its activities,
05:34but it has serious difficulties and is heading towards bankruptcy.
05:37This is a dormant company.
05:38There are some companies that are in cessation,
05:40but prefer to carry on.
05:42Exactly.
05:43We are trying to extend it.
05:44Absolutely.
05:45Exactly.
05:46How do you explain this phenomenon today?
05:48This phenomenon is obviously linked to,
05:51unfortunately, the main cause,
05:54which is the delay in payments.
05:56When we look at the composition of business deficiencies in Morocco,
06:00it is mainly commerce and the public sector,
06:03everything related to public works.
06:04So, these companies provide services,
06:08they deliver, but unfortunately, they are badly paid.
06:11And so, we are waiting to get the turnover,
06:15and we are counting on the turnover of this turnover
06:17to finance the entire operating cycle,
06:19to honor what we call the recurring monthly expenses,
06:23wages, rent, raw materials, payment deadlines,
06:27to honor these suppliers of raw materials.
06:28So, really, these are difficulties that are linked to the operating cycle,
06:32and that these companies, which unfortunately fall into bankruptcy,
06:35are heading, in the end,
06:37towards the cessation of activity and towards judicial liquidation.
06:42We are talking about companies like TPME and PME
06:46that manage to maintain a certain activity
06:51for more than five years.
06:53The figure is 53% today.
06:55Absolutely.
06:57It is more than half, but it is still insufficient
06:59in relation to the existing entrepreneurial fabric.
07:02We are talking about 98 companies,
07:03as we said earlier in the preamble, and you also,
07:06so more than 90 small companies,
07:08which creates a little bit of a gap
07:10between the number of existing and created companies
07:13and those that are productive and therefore efficient.
07:15Absolutely.
07:16And which can last and last over time.
07:20Exactly, absolutely.
07:21We will have to pay attention to two things.
07:24In general, when we want to talk about entrepreneurship,
07:26we are much more interested in the creation rate of companies.
07:29As an economist, what interests me the most
07:31is not the creation of the company,
07:33what interests me is the resilience of the company.
07:35Therefore, seeing the companies that manage to survive,
07:38to exist over the medium and long term.
07:40In general, the years of creation are the first years
07:44where we come, we experiment with the activity,
07:47we invest, we don't make a profit.
07:50In general, we have a deficit result,
07:52so we don't make a profit, we don't make a profit,
07:55but beyond the second or third year,
07:57the company must become profitable.
07:59A company that is not profitable,
08:01that cannot generate a turnover,
08:03make a profit and make a profit,
08:05it is a company that will disappear.
08:07Possibly a company that is not competitive,
08:09that is, it has no market share,
08:11it cannot sell within a market,
08:14in a distribution economy.
08:16If it is a more structured company
08:19that wants to make commercial deals with moral entities,
08:22it is a company that does not have a client portfolio,
08:25that is, it does not work with private, public,
08:30semi-public companies, etc.
08:31So we have to pay much more attention to that.
08:34It is the viability of the company
08:36and how the company can perpetuate its activity
08:39and can continue to exist.
08:40I think this is the most important area
08:44and this is what matters most in terms of entrepreneurship,
08:48not the belief in the company,
08:50but the resistance of the company to crises
08:52and how the company can face these difficulties of treasury,
08:56how the company can finance its operating system
08:59and continue to exist in a context that is very difficult.
09:02And then to go from two to three years
09:05and start to generate a revenue from there
09:09and not continue to invest.
09:10Exactly, and a point to be made,
09:13I think it is extremely important,
09:14there is not only the payment delay, yes.
09:16When you get a few orders,
09:18you have to make them pay quickly,
09:20but above all, the ability of the company to unleash markets,
09:24to have market shares,
09:25to grow its portfolio and access the market.
09:28How can it sell to the private sector,
09:31how can it sell to consumers, to end customers?
09:36How can it have market shares
09:38and grow its turnover?
09:40This is also extremely important
09:41because in general, when we create a company,
09:44we are on two major issues.
09:46How to get funding
09:47and how to make a payment if we make a loan,
09:50if we present an invoice.
09:51But beyond that, a company that has a little visibility,
09:54that has hindsight and the necessary vision,
09:57it must seek to develop a distribution market
10:00where it has, of course,
10:03customers, end consumers,
10:04who demand these goods and services.
10:07And this is what ensures the continuity of the company.
10:10Another figure to remember is a projection,
10:15an increase of 13% in corporate bankruptcy
10:21according to the Credit Assurer Alliance Trade report.
10:25So an increase, as we are talking about,
10:30the difficulties of small businesses,
10:32increase in bankruptcy.
10:34What are the signs to be noticed?
10:36How to avoid falling into the crisis?
10:39Indeed, when we look at the corporate bankruptcy rate in general,
10:44if we take this period compared to the previous year
10:47and the year before,
10:48in general, we are on 13-14%.
10:51It is true that a few years ago we were on 10%.
10:53These were the rates that were announced.
10:55I see beyond that,
10:57because there is corporate bankruptcy,
10:59there is also the IT sector.
11:00So if we count the IT sector,
11:02I'm sure we're going to come across a much more interesting rate.
11:06Because there are people who are in entrepreneurial activity,
11:08but they are not private law firms.
11:11They are not legal entities.
11:12It's true, we can only rely on the official figures.
11:16Indeed, we are on 13-14%.
11:18This year, about 7,600 bankruptcies were officially declared.
11:24And I think these official bankruptcies are linked to the problems
11:28we talked about a moment ago.
11:29The payment debts.
11:30The IT sector, which is also competitive.
11:32Exactly, the IT sector, which competes with the formal sector.
11:35Absolutely, because when we are in the formal sector,
11:38the return cost is much higher, much more important.
11:41So the rate will be higher in the formal sector
11:44than in the informal sector,
11:45which can achieve much lower margins in the formal sector.
11:49So already, the informal sector is competing with the formal sector.
11:53The delay in payment of invoices, the delay in payment, yes,
11:57but not only that.
11:58How to enter the market?
12:00How to position yourself in the distribution sector,
12:02in the mass economy?
12:04Today, these are the sufferings of formal companies.
12:07Indeed, and this is confirmed through the figures from one year to the next.
12:11Thank you, Mr. Grewi, for all these details.
12:15I remind you that you are an economist.
12:16We will have the opportunity, perhaps in another show,
12:20to address a little more the financing area,
12:23which is one of the main difficulties of these companies.
12:28Thank you, Madam.
12:28Thank you, dear viewers, for your loyalty.
12:31See you tomorrow with a new guest.
12:33Have a very good day.