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The Great Casablanca |
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Located in coastal North-Western Morocco, the Greater Casablanca region, composed of eight prefectures (Casablanca-Anfa, Aïn Sebaa-Hay Mohammadi, Aïn Chok-Hay Hassani, Ben Msik-Sidi Othmane, Al Fida-Derb Soltane-Al Mechouar of Casablanca, Sidi Bernoussi-Zenata and Mohammedia), is an urban centre par excellence. It harbours some 3.6 million inhabitants, 30.8% of whom are under 15, on a surface of 1,200 km², with a littoral of 70 km.
Besides being the kingdom’s economic capital, Casablanca has another religious role; it is distinguished by a very strong religious symbol on its shore: the great Hassan II Mosque. It is the second largest and one of the most beautiful mosques in the world, given its traditional Islamic and Arab architecture, with its minaret of 210 meters, the tallest in the world and accommodation capacity of 25,000 worshipers inside and 80,000 outside.
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- Economy
- Agriculture
- Breeding
- Tourism
- Industry
- Offshoring
- Aeronautics
- Car Industry
- Franchise
- Infrustructure
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 N.B. : USD 1 = MAD 7,258
(evolution over 12 months - Bank Al-Maghrib) |
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1- Economy |
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Possessing an important and solvent local market with a qualified and relatively cheap labour force, Casablanca is considered the sixth biggest city in the African continent and one of the greatest and most active agglomerations of the Maghreb, with an activity rate of 50.9%. It is considered Morocco’s economic capital as it condenses most of the economic activities of the country: 48% of industrial investments, 45% of industrial imports and 75% labour force working the IT field. The Casablanca region’s economic activity is dominated by the service industry, employing 45.6% of the labour force, followed by the secondary sector (40.5%). |
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2- Agriculture |
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Although Casablanca region is the industrial, commercial and financial centre of the Kingdom, agriculture also has its share in the region’s economy, as it employs about 145,000 rural people and a good number of urban ones. The region’s main product is common wheat, about 30% of the total production. Durum wheat comes second with 18% of the region’s total cereal production, followed by barley (16%) and corn (5%). However, Casablanca’s agricultural sector suffers from the problem of small-sized lands, as 63% of these are less than 5 h, yet Casablanca can be considered better than other region, where 71% of lands are less 5 h.
| Surface: ha; production: 1,000 qx; yield: qx/ha |
| main cereals |
1998-1999 |
2000-2003 |
| Surface |
production |
yield |
Surface |
production |
yield |
| Common wheat |
14 459 |
214,00 |
14,80 |
11 822 |
81,30 |
6,90 |
| Durum wheat |
6 073 |
55,90 |
9,20 |
3 630 |
18,80 |
5,20 |
| Barley |
3 213 |
38,60 |
12,00 |
3 228 |
26,60 |
8,20 |
| Corn |
1 191 |
14,90 |
12,50 |
691 |
11,30 |
16,40 |
| Total |
24 936 |
323,40 |
13,00 |
19 371 |
138,00 |
43,80 ? |
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| Source: Casablanca Agricultural Provincial Direction |
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3- Breeding |
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Despite its lands’ small size, Casablanca has an important livestock, including 31,000 heads of cattle and 90,150 of sheep.
| Agricultural campaigns |
cattle |
sheep |
goats |
Equids |
| 1994-1995 |
39 908 |
115 712 |
438 |
8 549 |
| 1995-1996 |
37 440 |
120 447 |
682 |
7 226 |
| 1996-1997 |
39 900 |
107 300 |
700 |
7 600 |
| 1998-1999 |
31 417 |
89 259 |
899 |
7 526 |
| 1999-2000 |
31 470 |
90 150 |
1 150 |
7 210 |
| 2002-2003 |
36 648 |
100 711 |
1 176 |
8 329 |
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| Source: Casablanca Agricultural Provincial Direction |
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4- Tourism |
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Although the tourism sector in Casablanca is predominantly business oriented, local authorities have set up a new vision, called “2012 vision”, to vary the city’s tourist offer, by including other most needed products relating to golf, seaside resorts, culture, entertainment, shopping etc., in order to keep the tourist, whether business oriented or not, as long as possible. This vision’s marketing concept is based on the motto: “Discovery, relaxation and entertainment”. This project, as well as others, is part of a plan dubbed “Mada’In”, which is intended to double the number of Casablanca visitors. |
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5- Industry |
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Along with developing its traditional activities (textile, agri-business etc.), the region is eying new emerging economic activities with added value, such as, logistics, franchising, tourism, real estate, electronics, aeronautics, car industry and offshoring, benefiting from the advantages made possible by the Programme Emergence, which redefined the Moroccan industrial strategy.
| Industrial indicators : values in MAD million (2006) |
| Province |
Number of units |
Staff |
Export |
Product |
Investment |
Added value |
| Nbr. |
% |
Nbr. |
% |
Val. |
% |
Val. |
% |
Val. |
% |
Val. |
% |
| Casablanca |
2 209 |
84 |
174 218 |
85 |
13 334 |
65 |
69 591 |
61 |
4 837 |
59 |
22 866 |
66 |
| Mediouna |
66 |
3 |
1 960 |
1 |
58 |
* |
1 105 |
1 |
79 |
1 |
398 |
1 |
| Mohammedia |
216 |
8 |
13 542 |
7 |
5 217 |
25 |
36 039 |
32 |
2 831 |
35 |
9 189 |
27 |
| Nouaceur |
137 |
5 |
13 831 |
7 |
1 965 |
10 |
6 417 |
6 |
449 |
5 |
2 016 |
6 |
| Total |
2 628 |
100 |
203 551 |
100 |
20 574 |
100 |
113 152 |
100 |
8 196 |
100 |
34 469 |
100 |
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| Sectors |
Nbr. companies |
Turnover |
Staff |
| Food industry |
328 |
21 656 506 |
15 530 |
| Chemical and para-chemical industry |
763 |
55 696 857 |
42 516 |
| Electric and electronic industry |
110 |
8 167 420 |
17 432 |
| Metallic and mechanical industry |
564 |
16 519 350 |
24 646 |
| Textile and leather industry |
1 047 |
13 541 028 |
94 794 |
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| Source: Ministry of Industry, Commerce and New Technologies (2005) |
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6- Offshoring |
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Intending to make Casablanca a hub for outsourcing, the state has set up a favourable environment for an optimal satisfaction to companies wanting to outsource their activities: infrastructure (casashore: 250,000 m2), fiscal incentives, adapted law, qualified labour force, training, etc. There are currently in Morocco more than 180 call centres, most of them are based in Casablanca, employing more than 17,500 people. |
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7- Aeronautics |
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The development of the aeronautics industry in the Great Casablanca region, through the installation of a number of foreign subsidiaries, is a response to an urgent demand for highly technological subcontracting. In the coming years the pace of growth in this sector is expected to increasingly accelerate, jumping from MAD 600 million currently to more than MAD 56 billion, and create more than 15,000 direct jobs. Some 20 companies, including SAFRAN and Crouset, are already installed in the region, and many more are to follow suit. |
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8- Car Industry |
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Called “the industry if industries”, Car industry is considered the engine of economy in developed countries. In Morocco, it represents 5% of the GDP and 14% of the country’s industrial exports. The sector counts more than 100 companies, led by SOMACA, employing around 30,000 people. SOMACA is the company in charge of assembling Logan, Citroën and Renault. There are also other companies which assemble heavyweight vehicles mainly for VOLVO, SCANIA, IVECO and CATERPILLAR.
| Production |
Investments |
Turnover realised in exports |
Added value |
Jobs created |
USD
1,5 billion |
MAD
190 million |
MAD 1.1 billion |
MAD
433 million |
30 000 |
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9- Franchise |
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Franchise is currently a flourishing activity in the Kingdom’s economic capital. It attracts more and more Moroccans, especially in the clothing and cosmetics sectors. The number of national and international brands is increasing every year. At present franchise covers 63 sectors of activity, and there are 365 brands and 1973 points of sale. |
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10- Infrustructure |
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Casablanca has an infrastructure that responds to international standards, including the country’s chief port that dominates 55% of the country’s foreign trade, and the main airport, Mohammed V, 42% of planes’ movement.
industrial zones :
Casablanca has nine industrial zones. The two old ones are d’Ain Sebaa-Hay Mohammadi and Sidi Bernoussi-Zenata. The seven new ones are as follows :
| Industrial zones |
surface (ha) |
Number
of lots |
Property developer |
Realisation rate |
| Bouskoura |
28 |
100 |
CFCIM* |
100% |
| Ouled Salah |
32 |
150 |
CFCIM* |
underway |
| Moulay Rachid |
29 |
161 |
CDG |
100% |
| Dar Bouazza |
10 |
124 |
Commune urbaine |
100% |
| Mohammedia |
120 |
300 |
ERAC |
- |
| Nouaceur |
26 |
94 |
Agence urbaine |
20 to 100% |
| Technopôle Aéroport Mohamed V |
86 |
200 |
ONDA |
100% |
| Total |
331 |
1 129 |
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| Source: French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Morocco |
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