18 May 2007
Although the $360m of trade that Morocco does with sub-Saharan Africa accounts for only 2% of its total external trade, Senegal has $55m of that trade, enjoying the closest integration with Morocco of all the countries of West Africa.
Politically stable, Senegal provides a platform through which Moroccan and foreign investors can target the more than 70m population living within the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa zone.
International organisations have supported this strategy. Increasing South-South trade flows remains a viable option for the diversification of Morocco's export markets, Supachai Panitchpakdi, secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and former director-general of the World Trade Organisation, told OBG.
Although recent relations between Senegal and Morocco have been dominated by the troubles of national carrier, Air Senegal International (ASI), ongoing integration between the two economies has continued.
Royal Air Maroc (RAM) holds 51% of the capital of the Senegalese airline. RAM officials said it had over-estimated the development potential of the West-African company when it acquired its share in 2004. The Moroccan operator injected 10m euros into the company in September 2006 to fend off bankruptcy.
Moroccan transport companies have begun working in Senegal. COMANAV (Compagnie Marocaine de Navigation) launched operations in Senegal in November 2005 while CET (Compagnie d'Emballage et Transport) created a subsidiary, CET Dakar, which began operations in the West African country in late 2006.
Morocco's interest in Senegalese opportunities are so diverse that West Africa Pharma, a subsidiary of the Moroccan pharmaceutical company Sothema, has finalised its 7.5m euros factory investment in Dakar.
In the energy sector, the Moroccan national electricity company, ONE (Office National de l'Eléctricité), has helped Senegal develop schemes for electricity production, while winning the concession for the rural electrification of Senegal over 25 years. This comes in addition to the stake it took in the privatisation of Senelec, the Senegalese electricity office.
Tying all this trade and investment together, two major Moroccan banks have been cementing their positions in Senegal, using it as a platform for covering trade and investment throughout West Africa. Attijariwafa Bank began operations in July 2006, opening three branches, which they supplemented by acquiring a 66.67% stake in the Senegalo-Tunisian Bank seven months later.
Meanwhile, Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur is also attacking the retail and corporate markets in Senegal, acquiring 35% of Bank of Africa, present throughout West Africa. The bank is also partnering in financing most of the West African nation's major projects, such as the new airport near Dakar and the planned new GSM telephone license. Maroc Telecom has expressed its interest in this planned licence, alongside the Saudi Binladin Group.
This direct relationship between Morocco and Senegal is complemented by important Gulf investments, by companies already working in Morocco. Gulf investors, having flocked to Morocco, are now diversifying their investments south of the Sahara. In many ways, Morocco has been a gateway for these investors into the rest of Africa.
The Saudi Binladin Group is heading the construction consortium for the new International Airport of Blaise Diagne, 45km south of Dakar. In a bid to position Dakar as the point of entry for goods flowing into West Africa, Senegal has sought to attract investments for the construction of a container terminal at the port of Dakar. Already chronically lacking space, the existing Dakar port has witnessed a doubling of traffic between 1995 and 2005, reaching 10m tonnes a year.
Jafza, a subsidiary of Dubai World, which manages the port of Jebel Ali, has announced a bid for the construction of the new port. Currently, it is setting up a 10,000-hectare integrated Special Economic Zone (SEZ), 40km south of Dakar. The SEZ will be adjacent to the new Dakar International Airport currently under construction. With such an ambitious autonomous container port planned, observers have been questioning the potential competition between the port of Dakar and the new Tanger Med port, set to launch in July 2007.
Real estate has attracted its fair share of investments, with the Kuwaiti Al Khorafi Group building the new Sheraton hotel, to be completed by early next spring. Emirati real estate and construction companies Tameer, Limitless, Nakheel Dubai, Damag, Gulf and Sorough have been in negotiations for the building of a master development project covering 250 sq km, expected to be the new administrative and financial capital of Senegal, accommodating 1.5m people.
Although the $360m of trade that Morocco does with sub-Saharan Africa accounts for only 2% of its total external trade, Senegal has $55m of that trade, enjoying the closest integration with Morocco of all the countries of West Africa.
Politically stable, Senegal provides a platform through which Moroccan and foreign investors can target the more than 70m population living within the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa zone.
International organisations have supported this strategy. Increasing South-South trade flows remains a viable option for the diversification of Morocco's export markets, Supachai Panitchpakdi, secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and former director-general of the World Trade Organisation, told OBG.
Although recent relations between Senegal and Morocco have been dominated by the troubles of national carrier, Air Senegal International (ASI), ongoing integration between the two economies has continued.
Royal Air Maroc (RAM) holds 51% of the capital of the Senegalese airline. RAM officials said it had over-estimated the development potential of the West-African company when it acquired its share in 2004. The Moroccan operator injected 10m euros into the company in September 2006 to fend off bankruptcy.
Moroccan transport companies have begun working in Senegal. COMANAV (Compagnie Marocaine de Navigation) launched operations in Senegal in November 2005 while CET (Compagnie d'Emballage et Transport) created a subsidiary, CET Dakar, which began operations in the West African country in late 2006.
Morocco's interest in Senegalese opportunities are so diverse that West Africa Pharma, a subsidiary of the Moroccan pharmaceutical company Sothema, has finalised its 7.5m euros factory investment in Dakar.
In the energy sector, the Moroccan national electricity company, ONE (Office National de l'Eléctricité), has helped Senegal develop schemes for electricity production, while winning the concession for the rural electrification of Senegal over 25 years. This comes in addition to the stake it took in the privatisation of Senelec, the Senegalese electricity office.
Tying all this trade and investment together, two major Moroccan banks have been cementing their positions in Senegal, using it as a platform for covering trade and investment throughout West Africa. Attijariwafa Bank began operations in July 2006, opening three branches, which they supplemented by acquiring a 66.67% stake in the Senegalo-Tunisian Bank seven months later.
Meanwhile, Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur is also attacking the retail and corporate markets in Senegal, acquiring 35% of Bank of Africa, present throughout West Africa. The bank is also partnering in financing most of the West African nation's major projects, such as the new airport near Dakar and the planned new GSM telephone license. Maroc Telecom has expressed its interest in this planned licence, alongside the Saudi Binladin Group.
This direct relationship between Morocco and Senegal is complemented by important Gulf investments, by companies already working in Morocco. Gulf investors, having flocked to Morocco, are now diversifying their investments south of the Sahara. In many ways, Morocco has been a gateway for these investors into the rest of Africa.
The Saudi Binladin Group is heading the construction consortium for the new International Airport of Blaise Diagne, 45km south of Dakar. In a bid to position Dakar as the point of entry for goods flowing into West Africa, Senegal has sought to attract investments for the construction of a container terminal at the port of Dakar. Already chronically lacking space, the existing Dakar port has witnessed a doubling of traffic between 1995 and 2005, reaching 10m tonnes a year.
Jafza, a subsidiary of Dubai World, which manages the port of Jebel Ali, has announced a bid for the construction of the new port. Currently, it is setting up a 10,000-hectare integrated Special Economic Zone (SEZ), 40km south of Dakar. The SEZ will be adjacent to the new Dakar International Airport currently under construction. With such an ambitious autonomous container port planned, observers have been questioning the potential competition between the port of Dakar and the new Tanger Med port, set to launch in July 2007.
Real estate has attracted its fair share of investments, with the Kuwaiti Al Khorafi Group building the new Sheraton hotel, to be completed by early next spring. Emirati real estate and construction companies Tameer, Limitless, Nakheel Dubai, Damag, Gulf and Sorough have been in negotiations for the building of a master development project covering 250 sq km, expected to be the new administrative and financial capital of Senegal, accommodating 1.5m people.
© Oxford Business Group 2007
