Rabat

- The Moroccan young woman, Hayat Nouyoura, struggles every day to save her company from the specter of bankruptcy that threatens it.

Hayat tells Al-Jazeera Net that after experience and professional experience, she decided in 2018 to embark on the establishment of a company specialized in the field of communication in Casablanca, to be surprised by the difficulties and challenges, whose complexity and severity were increased by the repercussions of the health crisis that the world witnessed since 2020 due to the Corona pandemic.

After life returned to its normal course, this young woman's company remained suspended, and she began looking for opportunities and offers to continue, but she could hardly now pay her duties, and she says, "I do not make much profit from my company, I am on the brink of bankruptcy, but I am fighting to survive while waiting for an opportunity to seize it to start from New and more successful.

Although its project is in the economic capital - where there are many opportunities compared to the rest of the kingdom - Hayat complains about the lack of offers available to very small companies, and says that the terms of the deals are suitable only for medium and large companies, while small and very small companies are excluded, and the opportunities in front of them are limited, so the fate of Mostly bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy of thousands of companies

If Hayat was fighting to keep her company alive and facing the economic crisis resolutely, other companies were doomed to bankruptcy.

The results of a study conducted by the "Anforesk" study office showed that about 12,000 companies went bankrupt last year, with an increase of 17.4% compared to 2021.

Most of the bankruptcy cases were recorded in very small companies, at a rate of 99.2%, while small and medium companies represented a rate of 0.7%.

The head of the Moroccan Confederation of Very Small, Small and Medium Enterprises, Abdallah al-Farki, believes that this figure does not reflect only companies with legal personality that have officially declared bankruptcy in the courts, while the real number has exceeded 20,000 companies.

Al-Farki explains that most of the very small companies are individual companies, and they are the most affected and suffering due to the Corona crisis, the global rise in prices and the absence of government support, adding that these companies are not counted because they do not declare bankruptcy with the competent authorities.

Very small, small and medium companies provide about 74% of job opportunities in the organized sector (Al-Jazeera)

Corporate structure in Morocco

Companies in Morocco are divided into very small, small, medium and large companies.

  • Very small companies:

    their turnover does not exceed 3 million dirhams (about 300 thousand dollars), and the number of workers in them is less than 10 people.

  • Small companies:

    their turnover ranges between 3 million and 50 million dirhams (between 300 thousand and 5 million dollars).

  • Medium companies:

    their turnover ranges between 50 million and 75 million dirhams (between 5 million and 7.5 million dollars).

  • Large companies:

    Their turnover exceeds 75 million dirhams ($7.5 million) or employs more than 200 workers.

The structure of companies in Morocco consists of 93% of very small, small and medium-sized companies (64% of very small companies and 29% of small and medium-sized companies), while large companies do not represent only about 7%, according to a study by the High Commissioner for Planning, and almost two-thirds of these companies are concentrated ( 63% in the regional area of ​​Casablanca and Tangiers.

Very small, small and medium enterprises provide about 74% of job opportunities in the organized sector, according to the Moroccan Observatory for Small, Small and Medium Enterprises.

These companies dominate the Moroccan productive fabric, representing 99.6% of more than 296,000 companies.

30% of the very small, small and medium enterprises are engaged in trade, and 23% in construction.

According to the observatory, these companies represent 41% of the total turnover of companies in Morocco, 26% of the transactions destined for export, and 35% of the added value.

Reasons for bankruptcy

The "Anforesk" report attributed the bankruptcy of these companies to the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the subsequent rise in prices of raw materials and jumps in inflation that reached record levels, in addition to the weak resort to preventive measures stipulated by the legal system for companies and trade.

As for Abdullah Al-Farki, he believes that the bankruptcy of small and very small companies in particular is not linked to the current circumstances, but rather due to other structural reasons, as they do not benefit from bank financing and do not have a share of public deals.

Al-Farki pointed out that the Deals Law issued in 2013 gives 20% of public deals to small, medium and very small companies, but it is not applied.

He added that the equipped industrial zones allocate real estate containers exceeding 1,000 meters, which are specifications that meet the needs of large and medium companies and do not take into account the capabilities of small and very small companies that only need between 100 and 200 meters.

For his part, economic analyst Badr Zaher Al-Azraq points out that start-up companies - which are no more than two years old - face great difficulties in their beginnings, and the bankruptcy rate is very high.

Despite the government's encouragement to establish small and very small companies through various programmes, these programs - according to Azraq - are limited to providing financing and tax exemptions for a specific period, while not providing real support at the legal level, marketing and infrastructure.

Abdullah Al-Farki calls for giving greater attention to small and very small companies (Al-Jazeera)

structural problem

The Minister of Economic Inclusion, Micro-Enterprise, Employment and Competencies, Younes Al-Skouri, had acknowledged in Parliament the difficulties facing very small, small and medium-sized companies.

Al-Skouri stated that only 12% of small and medium-sized companies have access to banking resources, describing these difficulties as a "structural problem."

The minister announced some steps to overcome this situation, including simplifying the procedures for public deals of less than 5 million dirhams ($500,000), pointing out that his ministry had prepared the decree to support small and very small companies within the framework of investment.

Last week, the National Agency for the Promotion of Employment and Competencies launched the operational plan "Generation of Resistors". This plan aims to support 100,000 project owners and self-contractors, as well as very small enterprises between the years 2023 and 2026.

investment charter

Al-Farki calls on the government to give greater attention to small and very small companies in formulating any economic programs, given their important contribution to maintaining social peace as the first operator in the country.

In order to solve the problem of access to financing, Al-Farki proposes the establishment of a state bank to finance these companies, which are excluded by commercial banks because they are not profitable for them.

Investors are counting on the new investment charter, which came into force last December, in order to overcome the difficulties faced by very small, small and medium-sized companies.

Al-Azraq indicates that this charter aims to assist companies, especially those wishing to invest in new sectors or remote areas, as they will benefit from support programs and tax incentives.

The speaker expects that these trends will have a positive impact on small and very small companies, and that they will push towards strengthening their steadfastness in the face of crises that they encounter in the early days of their establishment.