Moroccan business landscape sees 40,354 new ventures amidst economic challenges

Over the first five months of this year, Morocco witnessed the founding of 40,354 new businesses, as reported by the Moroccan Office for Industrial and Commercial Property (OMPIC).

Among these, 27,336 were established by legal entities, while 13,018 were initiated by private individuals, according to OMPIC data.

Limited liability companies dominated the business structures, constituting 36.3% of the new establishments, while anonymous and collective name entities were comparatively minimal, at 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively. An interesting trend emerged, with limited liability firms holding a single partner representing a significant 63.4% of all newly formed businesses.

Approximately two-thirds of the newly founded businesses were launched by individuals.

This phenomenon is linked to a weak employment rate in the labor force, which has compelled people to create their own ventures.

However, there has been a noticeable decline in the rate of newly founded businesses in 2023 compared to the same period last year, showing a staggering 25% decline over the past two years. The economic expert attributed this drop to Morocco’s ongoing economic and energy crisis.

According to the analyst, this decline can also be traced back to the lingering side effects of the Covid pandemic, which have affected various aspects of both the local and international economy.

Furthermore, inflationary pressures have taken their toll on the business landscape, leading to a 28% increase in businesses filing for bankruptcy in the first three months of 2023 compared to the same period last year. The worst-affected industries were business (33%), real estate (20%), and construction and public works (17%).

Geographically, the Casablanca-Settat region emerged as a dominant player, recording the highest number of new enterprises with 11,731, followed by the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region (5,983), Rabat-Salé-Kenitra (4,791), Marrakech-Safi region (4,044), and Fez-Meknes region (2,868).

As for the sectoral distribution of modernized contracting, the commercial sector topped the list with a share of 36.47%, followed by public works and real estate activities (18.62%), miscellaneous services (17.74%), transportation (8.25%), industries (7.05%), hotels and restaurants (6.25%), the information and communication technology sector (2.89%), agriculture and fishing (1.75%), and financial activities (0.97%).

Only 31% of Moroccan enterprises have access to information and communication technologies (ICT) and maintain an official website, leaving 69% without a digital presence, as per data published in 2022 by the High Commission for Planning.