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Moroccan, Dutch Partnership in Agadir to Unveils Horticultural Center

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

Various officials have gathered in Agadir to inaugurate a new horticultural “center of excellence” due to a partnership between Morocco and the Netherlands.

Morocco’s Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests Mohamed Sadiki was joined by Dutch Ambassador Jeroen Roodenburg to celebrate the new center’s opening on Saturday, December 10.

In a press release, the Dutch embassy in Rabat highlighted the “very close cooperation,” between the two kingdoms that had led to the opening of the new center in Agadir. The ceremony marks the official start of the center’s activities, which will focus on knowledge exchange to promote the “sustainable and integrated development of the horticultural sector in Morocco.”

The new center of excellence brings together the Dutch embassy, the ministry of agriculture, and actors from the private sector and Dutch research institutions. They are set to work closely with the Moroccan ministry of agriculture, the Hassan II Agronomic and Veterinary Institute in Rabat, and the Agadir Horticultural Complex.

The Dutch embassy emphasized that the new center and its projects “offer great opportunities to exchange the experiences of the two countries and to strengthen the synergies and complementarities between the production sectors in Morocco and the Netherlands.”

Horticulture, the science of plant cultivation, is at an advanced stage in the Netherlands. Despite its small size (41,543 km²) relative to Morocco (710,850 km²), the north-western European country is the world’s second-largest agricultural exporter, driven by innovation and high-tech agriculture.

SOURCE: Morocco news

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AgricultureBusinessEconomyMorocco

St. Vincent and Grenadines to welcome 500 tones of Moroccan fertilizers in 2023

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines expect to welcome 500 tones of Moroccan fertilizers in 2023, according to Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves.

The shipment reflects growing cooperation between Rabat and Kingstown in key sectors such as education, agriculture, and trade. The two countries are currently developing “a roadmap for relations over the next three to five years,” Gonsalves told local media on Thursday.

“Once we finalize this with the Moroccans, no farmer would be spending money on fertilizer next year,” the PM explained, adding that the shipment is in addition to 40,000 sacks of Venezuelan urea that are set to provide a “big boost” to national agriculture.

A delegation of Moroccan officials visited St Vincent and the Grenadines this week to further cooperation with the south Caribbean nation. The trip included meetings with Gonsalves and members of the Cabinet.

ALSO READ: Morocco Ranks 7th in the recently-publish Climate Change Performance Index 2023

The meetings reviewed Rabat-Kingstown cooperation in numerous sectors including agriculture and education.

According to the Vincentian PM, Morocco is providing technical assistance to the country with regard to soil fertility testing, “The Moroccans are here already doing some soil fertility testing, we need to ramp that up so that the farmers feel the impact of that technical work.”

In addition, the Gonsalves government is holding negotiations with the Moroccan delegation to replace partial scholarships with fully-funded ones with the goal of covering the education of up to 20 students for 2023.

The scholarships are likely to strengthen ties between the two nations that currently hold similar views on regional and international issues such as the Western Sahara dispute.

In March, Prime Minister of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit inaugurated a consulate in Dakhla on behalf of six Eastern Caribbean countries including Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint-Kitts and Nevis, Saint-Lucia, and Saint-Vincent and the Grenadines. 

The diplomatic move reaffirmed the countries’ support of the Moroccan stance on the Western Sahara dispute and provided them with a “very significant and promising diplomatic presence” in Morocco. 

SOURCE: Morocco news

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BusinessEconomyMarketsMoroccoTechnology

Moroccan Fintech Startup WafR Raises $120,000 To Expand it’s Customer Base

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

Moroccan fintech startup WafR has raised $120,000 from Casablanca-based fintech-focused venture capital First Circle Capital in its fourth round of funding in 2022.

WafR has raised $1.2 million this year which contributed to a significant increase in the company’s valuation to reach $10 million. The startup plans to invest raised funds to expand its customer base and reach 50,000 active partner retailers within six months. 

The startup, founded in 2021 by Ismail Bargach and Reda Sallak, aims to digitize cashback and in-store rewards allowing retailers and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands to boost their customer loyalty. 

The company capitalizes on the growing regional FMCG market which is valued at $30 billion in Morocco and $600 billion all over Africa, according to its co-founder Bargach.

Bargach thinks that the new funding round would support the startup’s objective of providing “the best possible support to retailers and FMCG brands.”

ALSO READ: Morocco’s Railway Office Sign €192.4 Million Loan Deal with European Investment Bank

This week, First Circle Capital reiterated its support for WafR’s vision by re-investing in the Moroccan startup. In June, the Casablanca-based venture capital contributed to WafR’s $1 million seed round along with WeLoveBuzz and other business angels.

“After seeing exponential growth in all of the startup’s KPIs [Key Performance Indexes] and the founding team’s know-how, our conviction was reinforced and we decided to multiply the amount of money we had previously invested by more than 10,” First Circle Capital’s Co-Founder and Managing Partner Selma Ribica explained.

Given that WafR enjoys “unique” market positioning at the crossroads of retail and fintech in Morocco, Ribica says that First Circle Capital is “confident about the future of WafR and look[s] forward to the next few months to see how it evolves in Morocco today and in many other countries tomorrow.”

SOURCE: Morocco news

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Five Moroccan Startups are set to Visit India to Learn from South Asian tech Ecosystem

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

 Five Moroccan startups are set to visit India from October 26 to 30 to learn from the Indian tech ecosystem and identify prospects for cooperation. 

Morocco’s Ministry of Digital Transition of Administrative Reforms and the Agency of Digital Development (ADD)have selected e-commerce platforms Chari and myTindy in addition to SOWIT , NHS, and OCP Maintenance Solutions to represent the North African country in India. 

The five startups were selected from 38 applications. Only 13 of them were pre-selected by ADD, Technopark, the ministry, the Federation of the Startup Ecosystem in Morocco (MSEC), and the Moroccan Federation of Information Technologies and Offshoring (APEBI). 

Eight of the pre-selected startups are currently on the waitlist including logistic startup Freterium. 

The waitlist also includes Indatacore, Go Online Accelerator, Robots & More, Now Edge, Ta7alil 2.0, Atarec, and Iconcierge.ma. The five-day visit would be an opportunity for the selected Moroccan startups to meet with Indian stakeholders in Delhi for the first three days before moving to Mumbai and Bangalore.

Given the recent surge in the number of startups in India with Bangalore serving as the country’s “silicon Valley”, the Moroccan companies appear to be excited to learn more about the Indian experience to improve their own national and regional ecosystems.

ALSO READ: Singapore in talks to Buy Carbon Credits from Morocco and other countries

Speaking to Morocco World News, the Founder of craftsmanship-focused startup myTindy Aida Kandil stated that the Indian visit would be a “great way to look at what has been already done and to have a look into the future.”

Kandil added that the work trip would enable her team to “learn in a very condensed way a lot of things that we [are] gonna be able to bring back to Morocco to further support the artisans of Morocco.”

On a similar note, the co-founder of Moroccan B2B ecommerce startup Chari Ismael Belkhayat said that India, which currently ranks as the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem,  is “for traditional retail B2B eCommerce what Silicon Valley is for Web3.”

“When you are a Startup in Africa, you don’t need a crystal ball to guess what are the next challenges facing your space,” Belkhayat added. “Visiting India and South East Asia is a way to travel into the future.”

With that context, the trip is aiming to provide inspiration to the rising Moroccan startups that are working on building the future of their country and Africa as a whole. 

In the past months, Morocco and India have expressed interest in advancing cooperation in key sectors such as outsourcing, defense, and automotive. 

The rapprochement between Rabat and Delhi provides an opportunity for Indian businesses to explore growth opportunities in the North African market while allowing the exchange of expertise with Moroccan stakeholders. 

SOURCE: Morocco news

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BusinessEconomyMarketsMoroccoSanlam

Sanlam Maintains it’s Hold on Moroccan Market, Expands in Africa

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

Moroccan insurance provider Sanlam, formerly known as Saham, has said that “Morocco is a key market” for its pan-African operations.

In June, Saham officially changed its name to Sanlam after its largest South African stakeholder boosted its share in the firm to 84.5%, up from 61.7% in 2018. 

In a move that could be interpreted as an attempt to reassure its customer base in Morocco following structural changes, Sanlam took to Linkedin on Tuesday to argue that its presence remains “unrivaled” in the North African country. 

“Morocco serves as the primary hub for our pan-African general insurance operations and our Moroccan subsidiary remains one of the flagship companies of our pan-African business portfolio with an unrivaled presence across the Kingdom,” the post reads. 

ALSO READ: Morocco is US’ Third Largest Exporter of Table Olive and olive oil in 2022

Sanlam further stressed its “long-standing commitment to Morocco,” recalling its confidence in the country’s economy and its mission to “empower current and future generations to be financially confident, secure and prosperous.”

Sanlam Maroc is currently the fourth-largest insurance provider in Morocco, after Wafa Assurance, Royal Maroc Assurance (RMA), and Mutuelle Taamine Chaabi. 

The company reported MAD 3.7 billion ($347.5 million) in turnover at the end of the first half of 2022, marking an 8.3% year-on-year increase.  

Given that Morocco was Africa’s second-largest insurance market in 2020, according to Oxford Business Group, Sanlam’s operations in Morocco are key in sustaining the company’s liquidity and growth plans.  Sanlam currently has 68 subsidiaries in Africa and the Middle East, but it plans to further expand in South Africa. 

On October 11, the insurance firm shared its offer to acquire Afrocentric Investment Corporation in an effort to increase its share in the ACT Healthcare Assets (AHA).  Afrocentric controls 71.3% of the strategic alliance of South African financial institutions. 

SOURCE: Morocco news

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