MEDI1TV Afrique : Focus sur le forum de la PME africaine avec Mohamed Benchekroun - 05/12/2024
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00:00Ladies and gentlemen, good morning and welcome to Focus Eco.
00:12Morocco, fully aware of the challenges facing the African continent,
00:17is committed to its development dynamics in order to succeed in regional integration.
00:25These are the words of the head of the Moroccan government, Aziz Arnouj,
00:29in a text read by Younes Skourie in his name.
00:33So, the Minister of Economic Inclusion, Small Business and Employment,
00:39on the occasion of the opening of the African PME Forum,
00:43held on the eve of the Africa Investment Forum.
00:47The objective is to strengthen continental economic integration
00:52by offering innovative and sustainable solutions
00:56to accelerate the industrialization of the continent
00:58and maximize the opportunities offered by the African free-trade zone.
01:04What are the main strategies of Morocco to succeed in regional integration in Africa?
01:11And how do these strategies respond to the challenges of the continent?
01:16With us to talk about it, Mr. Mohamed Ben Chorron.
01:18You are a professor at the Collège de Paris.
01:21Hello.
01:23Yes, hello. Thank you for the invitation.
01:26Thank you for accepting it.
01:28So, what are the main challenges of regional integration in Africa?
01:40So, the African PME Forum, which took place in Casablanca,
01:46in front of a strong delegation of African PMEs,
01:51aimed to delimit the field and to see what strategic activity sectors
01:58could effectively create a complementarity between Morocco
02:03and the sub-Saharan African countries
02:07in order to create this commercial inclusion, this economic inclusion,
02:12and to have an industrial ecosystem that is Pan-African.
02:16Morocco has indeed proven itself in terms of industrialization,
02:22which has enabled them to acquire technological and industrial know-how.
02:27And now the challenge is to support all African countries in their development
02:34through a Pan-African approach.
02:36And this is indeed the purpose of this forum.
02:41Indeed, a forum with several challenges.
02:44You mentioned strategic sectors.
02:46In which strategic sectors is Morocco currently investing at the continental level?
02:51And how can these sectors contribute to the economic development of the African continent?
03:02Yes, so the strategic activity sectors that have been identified
03:07as those that can lead us towards a Pan-African ecosystem,
03:13well, first of all, it is the automobile, aeronautics,
03:17the mining industry, electronics, and also the food group.
03:23So, first of all, the sectors of activity in which Morocco
03:26has been able to establish international legitimacy
03:32and also to integrate countries in this ecosystem
03:38by implementing industrial units in sub-Saharan African countries
03:43to have a much wider ecosystem.
03:46For this, indeed, there are many challenges.
03:50The challenges are important.
03:51The first challenge is linked to political instability.
03:54One of the real obstacles to economic development
04:00is this non-visibility in relation to the long term.
04:05State costs, military punches, are real barriers.
04:08So, first of all, we must secure the territory,
04:11create an infrastructure to facilitate trade,
04:16train African youth,
04:18because one of the big advantages is that we have an African demography that is very young.
04:22By 2050, 50% of the African population will be less than 25 years old.
04:27We have a world population of 2.5 billion inhabitants.
04:31So, we must optimize this leverage by training youth
04:36in the professions of the future.
04:40So, we must work on our leverages for improvement
04:47and, why not, move us towards an intra-African trade.
04:51And here, I will just remind you of a small figure.
04:54Only 15% is the amount of intra-African trade,
05:01knowing that in Europe it is 68% and in Asia it is 55%.
05:06So, the work for Pan-African economic inclusion has its good days in the future.
05:1215%, you say, of intra-African trade,
05:16a figure that could increase African youth,
05:20which is also a strength and several challenges to be met.
05:25You said it earlier, when you addressed the issues,
05:28you talked about the economic complementarity
05:31that can exist between several African countries.
05:34We will focus precisely on this.
05:37How to promote certain specializations,
05:40a complementarity between the strengths and weaknesses
05:46of certain African countries,
05:49brother countries, to use them as levers
05:53for continental economic development?
05:58Yes, so we do studies by country.
06:00We see each country and we see its potential for growth,
06:05its assets and its advantages.
06:08We know very well that Africa
06:12houses the majority of natural resources
06:16and also compared to the Arab lands.
06:1960% of the Arab lands in the world are in Africa.
06:22So, each country, compared to its natural resources,
06:25Morocco could actually accompany them
06:28to go from a raw export of raw materials
06:32to an export of a product that can be refined.
06:35I'll give you a simple example.
06:3990% of cotton is exported
06:44and is neither netted nor woven.
06:49And so that's a real problem.
06:51So why not create a joint venture,
06:53a public-private partnership
06:56so that Moroccan expertise in textiles
07:00can be exported to these countries
07:02that have all these natural resources
07:05to create an industry
07:08with a suitable training,
07:11with funding,
07:14so that there is co-development.
07:17For example, compared to countries
07:19that have large arable and fertile land
07:23for agriculture,
07:25why not allow the OECD to accompany these states
07:29by providing them with phosphate
07:34adapted for fertilizers,
07:37adapted for agriculture.
07:40And so we accompany agronomic engineers
07:44so that they can actually optimize all this potential.
07:48So these are studies per country
07:51by identifying comparative advantages
07:55and on the basis of natural resources
07:58and demographic capacities,
08:01to create a joint venture
08:03and an industrialized ecosystem
08:05that is not African.
08:07You talked about co-development.
08:09The term is well chosen.
08:11I will quote the head of government.
08:14Exchanges between countries play a crucial role
08:17as a tool to establish a winning partnership,
08:20benefiting both states and their populations.
08:24What role do trade and investment
08:28play in building a winning partnership?
08:3515% of trade is intra-African,
08:41so it is a very low percentage.
08:44In developed countries,
08:46we live from regional groups
08:50with a strengthening of partnerships
08:54between countries in the same region.
08:58So 65% of intra-European trade
09:01is concentrated in this region,
09:0355% in Asia.
09:05So the idea of the ASLECAF,
09:07the idea of creating a free trade zone,
09:09actually optimizes the potential
09:12and that economic development
09:15can first serve African youth.
09:18So we are going to move towards co-development,
09:21towards Pan-African inclusion,
09:24towards an industrialized ecosystem
09:27regionalized in Africa.
09:29This will allow the creation of jobs
09:32and this creation of jobs
09:34will effectively allow a limitation of the exodus
09:37and therefore of immigration to Europe.
09:40And this, in the end,
09:42will strengthen the African potential,
09:44it will strengthen industrialization
09:47and the African economy,
09:49and this for the development of youth,
09:51for a technological gain,
09:53and finally,
09:55so that Africa can finally have
09:58its crossing of cruises,
10:00its crossing towards development,
10:02which is what we hope for.
10:04And this can only be done
10:06through Pan-African industrial inclusion.
10:08Pan-African industrial inclusion.
10:10You talked about the free trade zone.
10:13How can this zone accelerate
10:16the industrialization of the continent
10:18and also maximize opportunities
10:21for African SMEs?
10:25First of all,
10:28you have to trust African youth,
10:31you have to trust African SMEs.
10:34Let's remember that the heart,
10:37the umbilical cord of an economic policy
10:39is the emancipation of a SME,
10:42because it is the SME that creates
10:44the majority of employment.
10:46For this, you need a youth formation,
10:49a youth formation and entrepreneurs
10:51on the jobs of the future
10:53so that they can acquire competitive know-how
10:56that will allow them to establish
10:58a legitimacy in the market.
11:00The training support
11:03must be accompanied
11:06by the development of infrastructures.
11:08We cannot attract foreign investment
11:11without ensuring a road,
11:14railway and port infrastructure.
11:18And also,
11:20we must optimize the potential
11:22of natural resources.
11:24The Gasoduc project
11:26of the Nigerian-Moroccan pipeline
11:28will allow not only to optimize the gas
11:31so that it can be used
11:34in all countries of West Africa,
11:37but it will also allow
11:39competitiveness,
11:41it will be a lever of competition
11:43to have low-cost energy
11:45available for all entrepreneurs.
11:49The business climate must not dry up.
11:51There must be a climate of trust
11:53and that we stop with the problem
11:55of coverage,
11:57because many entrepreneurs
11:59in Africa complain
12:01that there is a problem
12:03of climate of trust
12:05and an inability to ensure
12:07sustainability in collaboration.
12:09It is a work that must be structured,
12:11it is a serious work
12:13and that the fruits will be harvested
12:15only in the medium and long term.
12:17I remind you that you are a professor
12:19at the Collège de Paris.
12:21Thank you for all these details.
12:23It was a pleasure to have you with us.
12:25It was a pleasure to share.
12:27Thank you again.
12:29This is the end of Focus Eco.
12:31We will meet again tomorrow
12:33with a new topic, a new guest.
12:35Thank you for your loyalty.