While relief operations continue in the areas affected by the earthquake, the government launched, on instructions from Mohammed VI, a special fund dedicated to managing the effects of the catastrophe. Opened with the Central Bank, this account aims to “receive voluntary solidarity contributions from citizens and private and public organizations”, presented the Budget Minister, Fouzi Lekjaâ, to Parliament, on September 11th.
Objective: to finance an emergency program dedicated to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged areas, which includes thousands of houses destroyed, totally or partially. “It will also be dedicated to financing expenses related to the care of people in difficult situations, in particular orphans and vulnerable people, as well as the immediate care of all people who were displaced due to the earthquake”, detailed the Minister.
To heal the wounds still open from the tragedy, Who which particularly devastated the province of Al Haouz, located southwest of Marrakesh, the kingdom wants to anticipate damage that promises to be heavy. In fact, according to an assessment by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the damage could amount to $10.7 billion, or 8% of the country's GDP.
The CGEM mobilizes its troops
Barely created, the special fund is already generating great mobilization. On September 9, the president of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM), Chakib Alj, stated that employees “will mobilize[it] strongly and will not spare[it] any effort to contribute to damage management. ”
At the same time as it is currently increasing donations in kind, in cooperation with authorities and associations recognized as being of public benefit, the institution has reactivated a fund called “Solidarité-CGEM” to receive contributions from 90,000 members, which include among them the largest groups in the kingdom such as Akwa, of the head of government Aziz Akhannouch, Saham, of Moulay Hafid Elalamy, Holmarcom and the royal holding company Al Mada. Marjane, one of the members of Mohammed VI's group, announced on September 12 that all her sales related to aid operations will be paid into the solidarity fund.
“All revenues from the Solidarité-CGEM fund will be specific to the special fund launched by Her Majesty. Members thus have the option of paying their donations to CGEM funds or directly to the account opened at Al Maghrib Bank”, trust to the young Africa an authorized source within employees, who does not wish to detail the amounts of contributions received so as not to encourage “small donors”.
Communicating about a donation while we are still counting the dead is not the house style
Others avoid keeping silent about the value of their contributions out of “decency”, the CEO of a large company tells us. This is the case, for example, of the Bensalah family's Holmarcom, which intends to participate in training exercises through its different branches (holding, banking, insurance, etc.), “without publicity in the media”. “Communicating about a donation while we are still counting our deaths is not our style”, explains the group that had revenues of one billion euros in 2021.
Generally voluble, the head of another large group also prefers not to go into detail about his contributions, fearing that his testimony “sounds like publicity.” “We will not spare resources to contribute to the survival effort. I am very pleased with this exceptional manifestation of solidarity, which demonstrates that the connection between citizens and the State works well”, he believes.
“The mobilization will be greater than during a pandemic”
This great mobilization of employers recalls the wave of solidarity at work during the Covid-19 crisis. Launched in March 2020, a special fund dedicated to managing the effects of the pandemic received almost 33 billion dirhams (3.1 billion euros) in less than two months thanks to donations, particularly from national champions.
In front of it, OCP (3 billion dirhams), Al Mada (2 billion dirhams), Bank of Africa (1 billion), Banque centrale populaire (1 billion), CDG (1 billion), Holmarcom – which just doesn't had announced the amount of the donation. CGEM also paid one billion dirhams. It was also during the pandemic that investors obtained their solidarity fund, the proceeds of which will be directed to the Central Bank account.
“To repair the damage caused by the earthquake, the mobilization will undoubtedly be greater”, anticipates a member of the employer, who intends, as in 2020, to put his hand in his pocket. Although most groups are currently studying the donation amount, some have already made public contributions to the special fund, such as the holding company Derhem (20 million dirhams) or the Azura group and its foundation (10 million in dirhams).
