Marketing/Advertisement
Moroccan
Media Market Up in 2004, Uncertainty in 2005
The
advertisement market in Morocco showed positive momentum in
2004, after a sluggish 2003. All advertisement segments, from
television to billboards and the print press and radio, have
all benefited from a rebound in media purchases, a market
estimated to have grown by 25% in revenue terms to MAD 2 billion.
The rise in advertisement spending is attributed to two factors.
The first is the de-facto rise in prices implemented by the
nation's second television station. This increase led advertisers
to boost their ad budgets accordingly. The second factor was
an improved perception of the importance of advertisement
in many companies, small and large, that never considered
advertisement in their marketing plans in the past. As such,
companies new to the ad market have decided to spend promoting
their products and services for the first time.
Oil
and Gas
BHP,
BP, Shell, and Gulf Keystone Win Exploration Bids in Algeria-
Sonatrach to Compete With Foreign
Some
35 oil companies competed for a total of 10 exploration blocks
offered by Algeria in a sixth exploration bid round. Only
one block remains without an operator. The
winning companies were BHP of Australia, Britain's BP, the
Anglo-Dutch Shell, and Gulf Keystone Petroleum of the United
Arab Emirates. For
the nine blocks, the winning parties will invest a combined
$133 million for the first phase, which will last for three
years. Shell alone will spend about $22.8 million in the first
phase of exploration, following another $12 million in the
second phase.
Economy/Law
Widespread
Money Laundering in the Moroccan Economy
With
the inability of the financial authorities to control the
flow and exchange of money, cash-based Morocco is home of
a variety of problems such as corruption, dirty money, black
markets, and unreported labor activity. The country is source
of a major money-laundering problem that is difficult to crackdown
with the existing legal arsenal and law enforcement capacity.
Despite
their good will and upbeat speeches, authorities cannot slow
the progress of these economic and social problems. Various
mechanisms, such as the ability to track the origin of payments,
in particular by checks, have thus far failed to yield the
intended results to slowdown illegal financial transactions.
Food Sector
The
Algerian Milk Market
Algeria
spent $483 million in milk import in 2004. The milk import
bill has been on the rise since 2000, when it was below $365
million. This level of spending on an imported item indicates
that the Algerian households are major consumers of milk and
dairy products. Indeed Algeria is the biggest consumer of
milk in the Maghreb zone with a per-capita consumption exceeding
100 liters per year.
Market
Profile
The
Libyan Fruit and Vegetable Market
Libya
is a desert nation with a major water deficit. The authorities
are increasingly expressing their need to reduce food dependency
and have been working on a plan to boost agricultural output.
The challenges are enormous and of a surface of some 435 million
acres (176 million hectares), less than 545,000 acres (2.2
million hectares) are cultivated. The country faces problems
of irrigation and water desalination and although the climatic
conditions could favor various crops, the desert nature of
the country and a sandy soil make it very difficult to develop
a modern agriculture.
Regional Economics
The
Maghreb Region and the Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership
(FEMIP)
In
2004, the Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership
(FEMIP) lent a record EUR 2.2 billion in the Mediterranean
Partner Countries (MPCs) with EUR 441.5 million to Algeria,
Morocco, and Tunisia combined. In 2004 FEMIP signed in Morocco
its first social housing loan in the Mediterranean Region.
Internet
French
Internet Company Enters the Tunisian Market
The
French Internet company Wanadoo, a subsidiary of telecommunications
firm France Telecom, is expanding its North Africa presence.
After launching a Morocco and Algeria unit, Wanadoo has entered
the Tunisia market officially on April 8 with a comprehensive
Internet access offering and a new site catered to the local
web community.
