Press review for this Monday, September 30, 2024

Here are the main headlines developed by the national press for this Monday, September 30, 2024

Ecological inspirations

Public institutions: soon barometer of trust

The National Authority for Integrity, Prevention and Combating Corruption (INPPLC) intends to create a barometer of trust in public institutions. The launch of a study for this purpose, which will be assigned to a cabinet next month, has the general objective of measuring, analyzing and understanding the level of public trust in these institutions. Therefore, it aims to obtain a comprehensive overview of the perception that Moroccans have in relation to the government, justice, police and other public organizations. Emphasis will be placed on the nature and understanding of the factors that influence this trust.

Are travel and study expenses gone?

With PLF 2025, the government is reducing expenses deemed unnecessary, such as travel and external expertise expenses. “Reduce as much as possible the costs of transportation, travel costs inside and outside the Kingdom, reception costs, hotel costs and the organization of ceremonies, conferences and seminars (…)”, this is essentially what you should remember from the three-year macroeconomic framework report on the draft budget law for fiscal year 2025 published by the government. This speaks volumes for the dry regime the public sector will be in in 2025. As part of the Finance Bill for the year 2025, the government has made it a priority to “maintain the sustainability of public finances”.

Opinion

Climate change: Baraka advocates a new water policy

After a series of years with a rainfall deficit, Morocco is currently experiencing one of the worst droughts in its recent history. A situation that, in addition to strongly affecting water reserves, reduces the performance of several economic sectors in the country. Thus the responsible minister, Nizar Baraka, underlined, during a scientific conference held last Thursday in Rabat, the importance of revising our water policy to better plan the needs of the various sectors, according to the evolution of the available resources.

Primary school teachers denounce ‘broken promises’

At the start of the new school year, primary school teachers are uniting to make their voices heard against a government struggling to keep its promises. As National Coordination calls for a national strike on October 5, demands for reduced working hours, additional compensation and retroactive promotions reveal a deeper crisis in the education sector. This climate of discontent threatens not only the future of teachers, but also the quality of education offered to students. Teachers, already exhausted by years of neglect, can no longer remain silent in the face of injustice, and their struggles could well redefine the country’s educational landscape.

Global Innovation Index 2024: Morocco on the rise

The Kingdom moved up four places, ranking 66th in the world, on the list of 133 economies assessed by the Global Innovation Index (GII). The 2024 edition was announced in Geneva. With “performance above expectations given its level of development”, Morocco joins the group of middle-income economies in the top 70 of the ranking. Which have advanced faster in this ranking since 2013, highlights the index published by the World Industrial Property Organization (WIPO).

The Economist

Online payment: the Competition Council unravels the CMI monopoly

The complaint filed by Naps against the Interbank Center for Electronic Payments (CMI) at the Competition Council for anti-competitive practices has just received its final outcome. The regulator made its decision on Friday 27 September. Thus, CMI will no longer be able to sign new membership contracts for payment card systems via TPE and online. It will even have to transfer all its contracts to payment institutions and other subsidiary banks dedicated to acquisition. CMI also undertakes to repudiate contracts linked to the activity of the online payment gateway.

Digital Morocco 2030: messages to remember

Telecommunications connectivity is a key determinant in achieving the goals of the new digital strategy for 2030 The challenge now is to make fiber optic mainstream as households expand. In order to accelerate the coverage and quality of the telecommunications/Internet network, to generalize the national network and allow the massification of uses. This will include the generalization of optical fiber, FTTH (fiber to the home), which is supposed to increase access to very high speed for users and households. The goal, according to the Ministry of Digital Transition, is to increase the share of households eligible for FTTH from 1.5 million (in 2022) to 4.4 million people in 2026. By 2030, the coverage share of eligible households it should reach 5.6 million people.

The Chinese are looking at Moroccan fabrics

A strategic sector of Moroccan industry, textiles are increasingly attracting Chinese investors. A large delegation from the National Textile and Apparel Council of China (CNTAC), consisting of more than twenty businessmen, traveled to Rabat last Thursday. He met the Deputy Minister responsible for Investments, Convergence and Public Policy Evaluation, Mohcine Jazouli. The aim of the meeting was to explore cooperation and investment opportunities between the two countries in the textile sector.

In the morning

Atlantic access: Sahel states welcome ‘strategic’ Royal Initiative

The Sahel states welcomed His Majesty the King’s international initiative aimed at promoting these countries’ access to the Atlantic Ocean, considering it a “very important strategy” in the service of co-development and prosperity in the region. “We welcome His Majesty the King’s Initiative which will help us diversify our sources of access to the Atlantic,” said Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop on behalf of his Burkina Faso counterpart, Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré, from Niger’s Bakary Yaou Sangaré and Chad’s Abderaman Koulamallah met on Friday in New York with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad, Nasser Bourita.

Medical student strike: Is the crisis likely to spread?

Medical and Dental students do not take off. Despite measures taken to curb their protest movement, they are steadfast in their demands and have even announced a national occupation on October 15 in front of the Parliament building. The student organizations even expressed their solidarity in the cause of the future doctors, while they expressed their full willingness to participate in the protest movement. With legal proceedings in motion, it is clear that the end of this unprecedented standoff is not for tomorrow. The battle risks spreading to the great frustration of around 24,000 students who have been boycotting internships, classes and exams for more than 9 months.