Capital Markets

Macroeconomic stability, a thriving private sector, and a pivotal location bridging Europe and Africa have helped cement Morocco’s position as a major continental financial hub. By African standards, the kingdom’s capital markets are relatively deep, liquid and sophisticated. Recent years have seen challenges arise on all of these fronts, however. Against a backdrop of subdued economic activity, the market saw scarce new equity issues; falling liquidity; and delays to long-planned innovations, such as its small and medium-sized enterprises window. Although efforts to increase depth and liquidity have been hampered by weak economic growth, the 2018-19 period saw the implementation of a number of regulatory developments, which are set to bear fruit in terms of increased activity in alternative financial products and markets in the years ahead. This chapter contains interviews with Karim Hajji, CEO, Casablanca Stock Exchange; Abdeslam Ababou, Managing Partner, Red Med Finance; and Souad Benbachir, Partner and Executive Managing Director, CFG Bank.