Morocco plans to divest some state assets as part of a broader push to develop a growth model for the country’s ailing economy, and according to a Bloomberg report, citing Casablanca Stock Exchange CEO Karim Hajji, speaking at a conference in Marrakesh this week, “probably a unit or two of OCP SA can be privatized.”
While two IPOs are expected on the country’s bourse this year, Hajji said it is doubtful that the state IPOs will include the Moroccan phosphates group. He did not provide any further further details in relation to OCP, and the Moroccan group had not responded to Green Markets inquiries by press time.
Hajji did not identify the potential assets for this year’s IPOs, but the target assets are speculated to be those of the Moroccan state airline Royal Air Maroc and the country’s luxury hotel La Mamounia in Marrakesh, according to the report.
The combined efforts are hoped to help raise Morocco to emerging market status within two to three years, after the country was relegated to “MSCI frontier status” in 2013 amid a liquidity squeeze and an absence of new listings, Bloomberg reported.