MEDI1TV Afrique : Quid des startups marocaines avec Driss Aissaoui - 15/01/2025
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00:00Ladies and gentlemen, hello and welcome to Focus Eco.
00:13Moroccan start-ups raised $70 million in 2024.
00:18According to the annual report of Africa The Big Bill,
00:21a 311% increase,
00:24this performance places Morocco in the 5th place in Africa.
00:28Despite this good performance,
00:30start-ups are still facing a number of difficulties.
00:35The report also reveals that half of the funding for 2024
00:39has been captured by only 10 companies in Africa.
00:42We are talking about this report today with Mr. Dresslier.
00:46Saoui, you are an economic analyst.
00:48Hello, thank you for being with us.
00:50Thank you, Madam.
00:51So, a fund raise of $70 million,
00:55an increase that is quite significant compared to last year,
00:58we are talking about 311%,
01:00and yet this figure is far behind some other African countries,
01:05or at least there is still a long way to go.
01:09Yes, certainly.
01:10You know, when we talk about start-ups,
01:13that is, the future of entrepreneurship in Morocco,
01:17it is a field that is not at all in the good graces
01:21of those who lend money,
01:23of those who give money to those who have to create companies,
01:27to those who really have to be at the top of the priorities
01:32of those who make decisions in this country.
01:34And I think that this figure,
01:37effectively, it is particular.
01:39$70 million is not nothing.
01:42It is 311% compared to 2013, 2023.
01:47It is excellent, it is very good,
01:50but I think that what needs to be done
01:53is that I think that the managers of the companies,
01:58the managers of everything that is money, investment,
02:03must take into account the fact that start-ups are the future.
02:08They are the young people.
02:10So, we must trust the young people,
02:12because the young people who represent the future of this country
02:15are not always well treated,
02:18they are not always well seen by those who lend money.
02:23Today, they are where they are.
02:28That is to say, Moroccan start-ups do not benefit
02:32from the necessary confidence that they must have
02:37of what they are on the economic side,
02:42on the side of economic investment in this country.
02:45You said it, start-ups are the future.
02:47We are in the African top 5,
02:49but we aim to be well beyond this top 5,
02:52at least in the top 3.
02:55What are today the main obstacles
02:58to the financing of small businesses,
03:01small firms, which could then become internationalized,
03:05become large companies,
03:07and perhaps even support the Moroccan economy?
03:10These are the small firms, as you call them.
03:14As I said earlier,
03:16these are the actors that will make all the difference
03:21in the Moroccan economy.
03:24We cannot talk about these companies
03:26without considering the fact that these are the structures
03:31that carry out applied research.
03:34These are the companies that have the most means
03:38to adapt to the changes in everything that happens
03:42at the level of investment.
03:44And if we are unable to look at them like that,
03:47I think we really have to ask the question differently.
03:51I think that today,
03:54Moroccan start-ups do not benefit,
03:57I will tell you very briefly,
04:00do not benefit from the confidence of those who have the money,
04:04of those who have the means,
04:06of those who decide in this country.
04:08We consider that start-ups are little thumbs
04:12that we will let develop by themselves.
04:15They will come when they are able to do so.
04:19However, we forget that it is with these actors
04:23that we build the future.
04:25These are the companies that tomorrow
04:28will make all the difference at the economic level.
04:32How will they do it?
04:34Because they are light.
04:36They are able to adapt.
04:38And a young Moroccan
04:42when you put them in a project,
04:45they show you that they are able to go very, very quickly
04:49towards everything that is good,
04:52towards everything that is intelligent at the level of this country.
04:55A problem of confidence,
04:57but there are also other underlying difficulties.
05:00There is access to capital,
05:02as we talked about, so financing,
05:04but there is also the maturity of the projects,
05:06perhaps, once they are started,
05:08and a financial regulation,
05:11in particular, which remains at the level of banks,
05:14a little too rigid compared to other African countries,
05:18in particular, Anglophone countries,
05:20which further flexibilize regulation
05:23and access to financing.
05:25Yes.
05:26You are citing the underlying problems
05:29of financing at the level of Moroccan banks,
05:33of the world of investment in this country.
05:36African banks,
05:38they manage to go further.
05:41Why?
05:42Because in African countries,
05:45we have capacities and financing
05:49that are really very, very far.
05:52They go very far.
05:53You know, when you take the example of
05:56everything that is microeconomic,
05:59of everything that is financing,
06:01Africans have a lot of facilities.
06:04Africans are able, with their mobile phones,
06:07to make a document exchange,
06:10to invest in a project.
06:13However, we have not yet reached this.
06:16Unfortunately, we are still here discussing
06:19whether we should keep the cash
06:21at the level of exchanges
06:24that we have between companies, individuals, etc.
06:27There are a lot of problems.
06:30But there are advances.
06:31There is a cryptocurrency.
06:32We are talking about E-Diram.
06:34But the E-Diram, the cryptocurrency,
06:38which has also succeeded in other countries,
06:42has worked well in other countries.
06:44In Morocco, this is not yet the case.
06:46Even if the Central Bank is very open-minded.
06:51She wanted to open this capacity.
06:54They also opened it for alternative financing.
06:58So why not for small businesses
07:03that aspire to become big and important
07:06at the level of the future?
07:08So, the ecosystem of start-ups in Morocco
07:11is based elsewhere,
07:13especially on financing.
07:15But there is also the aspect of innovation.
07:17And in relation to innovation,
07:19where are we today?
07:21We have a few shortcomings.
07:24There is an effort that is being made.
07:26But we have to encourage this aspect more.
07:31You are asking the fundamental problem.
07:34You are talking about innovation.
07:36With whom are we going to see
07:41whether this project is innovative or not?
07:44First, we have to accept it.
07:46It has to enter the circuit.
07:48And Moroccan start-ups
07:50do not have this chance
07:52to enter the system
07:54and say that this one has innovation
07:57and does not have it.
07:59Because we cannot judge them.
08:01There is indeed an important Moroccan institution
08:06that works on the aspects of innovation.
08:09It exists in Morocco.
08:11It even has money and resources
08:16to encourage innovation.
08:18But this is not a priority.
08:20This is the problem.
08:22There is always something incidental,
08:25something that could possibly happen
08:29if we are interested.
08:31I think that Moroccan start-ups
08:34need a much more important environment.
08:39More important,
08:41that it is an environment
08:45that takes into account
08:47the fact that start-ups are young,
08:50they are dynamic,
08:52they want it,
08:53but there has to be an environment
08:55that facilitates all this.
08:57But we are in a very sclerotic environment.
09:02Especially at the level of banks,
09:04they do not want to play the game.
09:06We are still on digitization today,
09:08there is the 2030 strategy.
09:10Yes.
09:11We have started quite important projects.
09:14There is an important reflection
09:17that is developed here and there.
09:19It must be said.
09:20Digitization,
09:22Morocco 2030, etc.
09:25These are a lot of projects
09:27that are imagined,
09:29that are put in motion, etc.
09:32But it is still in the trial phase.
09:35We are trying,
09:37but we are not really ...
09:39If there is a project,
09:40you want it to succeed.
09:41If you want to finance start-ups,
09:43there must be a duration.
09:45It must last over time.
09:47People must be able to settle
09:49and look.
09:50Ah, this is an interesting phenomenon.
09:53We can do this,
09:54we can do that, etc.
09:55But unfortunately,
09:56we are still in an observation phase.
10:00Observation of what is happening
10:02at the level of the Moroccan market.
10:04Okay.
10:05What is the strategy today
10:07to further strengthen the visibility
10:10of these small Moroccan thumbs,
10:13especially in relation to the international market?
10:16Perhaps,
10:17capturing international funding.
10:19Why not?
10:20What you are saying is not wrong at all.
10:23Because for a long time,
10:25there have been international capital
10:27who were interested in Morocco.
10:29And they would be more interested
10:32by doing business
10:34with a small rising company
10:36that is dynamic,
10:37that wants to go forward,
10:39than with an already established company
10:41that has a lot of load, etc.
10:43No.
10:44You have to find a way.
10:46You have to find a way
10:48to give Moroccan start-ups
10:50the possibility
10:52to imagine a future.
10:54Because in fact, that's it.
10:56It is the ability to have a dream.
10:59And if we are unable to have a dream,
11:02we can't consider
11:04that we are in the limelight,
11:07in the atmosphere of a start-up
11:09that imagines the future
11:11with a lot of spark,
11:13with a lot of capacity
11:15to go forward.
11:16You have to dream big.
11:17Thank you, Mr. Daleh Serissaoui.
11:19I remind you that you are an economic analyst.
11:21It was a pleasure to have you with us today.
11:24This is the end of Focus Eco for today.
11:26We will meet again tomorrow with a new guest
11:28and a new topic.
11:29Have a good day.