The undeniable rise of the digital commercial transactions. is one of the first findings of the Antitrust Council’s opinion on food distribution systems.  B-to-C (business-to-customer) platforms, specialized applications for local grocers (such as chari.ma), the boom in drive-through and home delivery services, and more. All these innovations are designed to transform the relationship between producers, distributors and consumers.  The ability to buy 24 hours a day, with no time or travel constraints, is attracting more and more users.

However, the market remains under-exploited. E-commerce’s « share of the national economy remains minimal, with a contribution to retail GDP of barely 1 to 2%« , compared with 12.5% in France, cites the report.

For Antitrust Council’s experts, this low level of consumer sector penetration is linked to both the accessibility of digital equipment and historical mistrust of online payments.  But in the end, this represents a major loss of earnings for the sector.

« Rawaj didn’t work »

To support the transformation of the sector and strengthen its competitiveness, the Ministry of Industry and Trade had already deployed the Rawaj strategy in 2009. The ambitious objectives were to triple the retail sector’s GDP, increase its contribution to national GDP from 11% to 15%, create 450,000 jobs, set up 600 large and medium-sized stores (including 50 hypermarkets) and develop 15 shopping malls capable of accommodating 3,000 points of sale by 2020.

But more than 15 years after its launch, we can only conclude that « the Rawaj strategy didn’t work, because it wasn’t well targeted », posits Mohamed Chahid, member of the executive committee of the Nation Union of Traders and Professionals (SNCP) and in charge of relations with government bodies.

Indeed, far from having boosted local commerce, public funds seem to have vanished in the wake of « major malfunctions » and fraudulent practices, which an investigation carried out by the Assabah media  as far back as January 2019 brought to light.

Of the 723 million dirhams (out of the 900 million initially earmarked) allocated for the equipment of 32 companies responsible for modernizing local shops, a substantial portion was swallowed up in alleged over-invoicing. Worse yet, the lack of coherent quality specifications in the tender documents enabled these companies to offer poor-quality equipment, while receiving a substantial amount in subsidies.

On the training front, the picture is not much brighter. According to the same survey, for several sessions invoiced at 5,000 dirhams per participant, inspectors from the Ministries of Commerce and Finance discovered the mobilization of « fake trainers: » lecturers with no qualifications or serious teaching program, whose modules were far removed from retailers’ needs in management, hygiene or merchandising. The retailers who were asked to take part in these workshops were forced to pay out of their own pockets, in the hope of improving the competitiveness of their outlets.

Initial feedback from the field also points to a clear lack of transparency and a lack of follow-up since the first phase of the program: while 90% of the initial objectives were met between 2009 and 2013, with almost 22,500 shops modernized thanks to public support of 564 million dirhams, no reports or adjustments have been communicated or made since that period.

The second phase of the Rawaj strategy, meant to run until 2020 and include rehabilitating informal markets, organizing itinerant trade, and modernizing wholesale markets, was never launched.

In the report, the banking sector was also singled out for refusing to finance a number of modernization projects. According to Assabah‘s survey, professionals and trade associations have proposed the creation of a mutual guarantee fund to relieve entrepreneurs of these constraints and make credit more accessible.

« Bank financing is a real problem for retailers. Often, they – especially the smaller ones – can’t meet all the criteria required by banks to access credit », said Chahid.

Towards a new modernization plan?

Pending the relaunch of the Rawaj « machine », the major challenge today is to combine modernization and preservation of the traditional retail network.  How can hypermarkets and local grocery stores, e-food platforms and traditional souks coexist? The Antitrust Council’s recommendations underline the importance of a flexible commercial planning system capable of responding to the diversity of consumer patterns while guaranteeing access to a varied, high-quality offering throughout the country.

The report also warns against the risks of excessive concentration: the massive opening up of international chains must not lead to a standardization of prices or the marginalization of local players. The challenge is to encourage fair competition, on the one hand between superstores, and on the other between modern and traditional channels while offering Moroccan consumers a wider choice, fair prices and the security of a stable supply.

« What’s needed is a total transformation of convenience stores, starting with a modern look. Then these shops need to be built or renovated in such a way as to enable customers to enter the store and make their choice directly », says Chahid.

Another question remains: Can we restore the confidence of local retailers? To regain legitimacy, the plan will need to be governed more transparently, with tighter controls and precise performance indicators tailored to each type of business and geographical area. Without these guarantees, the possibility of a new series of malfunctions will always loom over this program which, despite its ambitions, has so far failed to bring about a lasting change in the face of local retail business in Morocco.

Ultimately, modernizing trade and distribution in Morocco appears to be a long-term project, combining infrastructure, digitization and human capacity-building.

« We are currently studying the question of modernizing and digitizing local commerce with the Ministry of Commerce. But nothing can be done without state support, » says Chahid, adding that a meeting with Minister Ryad Mezzour on this issue is due to take place shortly .

Once upon a time, there was Rawaj…

Back in 2009, the Rawaj strategy aimed to rebalance the Moroccan retail landscape by encouraging more flexible urban planning and a harmonious mix of superstores and convenience stores. By rethinking zoning and simplifying opening procedures, the plan aimed to limit the concentration of retailers while preserving free initiative.

It also encouraged the development of e-commerce and national franchises while supporting short distribution channels to bring producers and retailers closer together and reduce intermediaries.

Initially, Rawaj was to modernize neighborhood grocery stores (renovation, training, integration into networks), rehabilitate souks and municipal markets with cultural events, structure itinerant trade via dedicated, secure zones, and optimize wholesale infrastructures (wholesale markets, abattoirs) through substantive investment and rethinking governance.

These actions were to be complemented by the creation of shared purchasing groups, offering small retailers greater negotiating power, easier access to logistics services and more competitive prices, all backed by cross-functional monitoring, training and social protection mechanisms to ensure more sustainable, shared governance.

Written in French by ElMehdi El Azhary; edited in English by AngloMedia Group

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