On September 8, the province of Al Haouz, located southwest of Marrakesh, was hit by a devastating 6.8 magnitude earthquake, described as “the most powerful of the century” by the National Institute of Geophysics.
In addition to the crucial issue of relocation as winter approaches in the Atlas Mountains, receiving responses and worrying about the repercussions on tourism in particular, another concern arises: the future of long-planned economic events. Because this year, Marrakesh (Bab Ighli) is expected to host the annual meetings of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), from October 9th to 15th.
The first in 50 years
This event should mark the return of the annual meeting of the Bretton Woods institutions on African soil, after 50 years of absence. The last annual meetings on the continent active occurred in 1973, in Kenya.
To date, neither the World Bank nor the IMF have publicly confirmed that their meetings will be held in Morocco. A request for Young Africa, The institutions indicated that they were listening to the Moroccan authorities and awaiting their decision. A source close to the Moroccan government indicated Reuters that “no changes are currently planned. »
“We are very excited to hold this event in Africa, as it comes at a time when the region needs the support of the international community,” said Abebe Selassie, director of the IMF’s Africa department, in a statement. young Africa a few days before the earthquake.
“Provide all necessary support”
Since then, the Bretton Woods institutions have sent messages of support “to the kingdom, His Majesty the King and his people”. The BM conveyed its condolences to the government and offered its full support to the country, specifying that at this stage, “[read] “The absolute priority is the well-being of the Moroccan people and the authorities responsible for managing this tragedy”.
In a joint statement, signed notably by the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, the President of the African Union, Azali Assoumani, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, the President of the WB, Ajay Banga, the Director General of the Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, and a The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the IMF indicated that it was “at Morocco's side to provide all the necessary support to meet financial needs [...] and to this end, commit to mobilizing tools and technical assistance and finance in a coordinated way.”
In Morocco, these assemblies replace events. O Kingdom has been preparing for this since October 2018, when the country was officially named. The Ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs, the Marrakesh wilaya, the Marrakesh-Safi Regional Tourism Council, the Moroccan Society of Tourist Engineering and the Moroccan National Tourism Office… all mobilized to ensure the success of these AGs.
Heavy financial consequences
In July, Nadia Fettah Alaoui, Minister of Economy and Finance, insisted on the scale of preparations. An area of 25 hectares was made available to host this international event. According to the ministry, around 12,000 hotel rooms were reserved for this occasion, anticipating a total participation of 14,000 delegates, including 4,500 official members representing 189 countries.
With an average rate of 176 euros for a second four- and five-star room, estimates from young Africa, the hypothetical cancellation of the event would represent a specific deficit, exceeding 2 million euros in accommodation alone. Taking into account expenses related to food and transportation, the opportunity cost would be at least double.
“Morocco has already hosted high-level events and demonstrated its ability to successfully organize international events”, highlighted David Theis, spokesperson for the World Bank, in June 2023. Arguments taken up by the African Development Bank (AfDB) during the award from the Africa Investment Forum to the city of Marrakesh, scheduled for November 8th and 9th. Although the infrastructures that were supposed to host the two events were spared by the earthquake, the decision to maintain them or not is up to the authorities Moroccans.
