Fertiliser giant OCP Group is the largest Moroccan company on the list, ranking among the top 25

Five Moroccan companies among the 100 largest in the Arab world

REUTERS/YOUSSEF BOUDLAL - Phosphate mine at the Boucraa factory of Morocco's National Phosphate Company (OCP) located in the southern provinces, 100 km southwest of the city of Laayoune.

Enrique Fernández

05 de noviembre de 2023 (10:00 h.)

Tags

Morocco Economy Morocco

Five companies from Morocco are among the top 100 of Fortune 500 Arabia, which ranks the largest companies in the Arab world based on published and verified revenues. According to the report, Moroccan fertiliser company OCP recorded a 19% increase in sales in 2022, driven by a sharp rise in global fertiliser prices and increased demand for Moroccan phosphates globally.

OCP attributed the change and the current decline in sales to "unusual price increases" due to falling prices for phosphate products worldwide in 2022. The group said it was due to a shift in demand in the second half of 2023 due to price volatility and the impact of inventories built on higher commodity prices. OCP also shared data documenting the group's efforts to invest in the industry.

The Moroccan company invested around MAD6.4bn in the second quarter of 2023, up from MAD4.86bn in the same period last year.

PHOTO/FILE - Phosphate fertiliser factory in Morocco

OCP's revenue will reach 114.57bn dirhams in 2022, up from 84.3bn dirhams last year. The company has big plans to further increase production. OCP announced a 130 billion dirham plan to increase fertiliser production using renewable energy and power industry facilities using green energy by 2027 as part of its strategy to achieve net carbon neutrality by 2040.

The second Moroccan company on the list is Attijariwafa Bank, in 47th place, and the banking group recorded a 5.87% drop in profits in 2022 due to economic difficulties caused by the Russia-Ukraine war. The company is talking about revenues of around 45.59 billion dirhams in 2022.

PHOTO/REDES - Headquarters of the Banque Populaire du Maroc in Casablanca

The bank offers a variety of financial services, including utilities, consumer insurance and mortgage lending, through its many branches. The group operates in 24 African countries. Banque Centrale Populaire is the third Moroccan company on the list, ranking 68th. Banking revenues fell by 6.8% in 2022 compared to the same period last year, reflecting broader trends in the banking sector.

PHOTO/ATTIJARIWAFA BANK - Headquarters of Attijariwafa Bank in Casablanca (Morocco)

It is talking about bank revenues of MAD28.27bn in 2022, down from MAD26.56bn the previous year. The Moroccan banking group owns the remittance networks Chaabi Cash (M2T) and Attawfiq Microfinance (AMF). Both organisations are leaders in Moroccan microfinance. Like Attijariwafa Bank, these companies have a wide presence in Africa and have recently opened new branches in the Middle East.

The fourth Moroccan company to appear on the list was Bank of Africa, another banking group, in 90th place. Like the other two banks, Bank of Africa has an extensive presence on the African continent.

PHOTO/FILE - Branch of the Bank of Africa

In 2022, the group suffered a 2.98% drop in annual revenues due to the operation to purchase stakes in the Moroccan bank Al-Tamweel wal Al-Inma (BTI). Moroccan banks' profits will reach 22.74 billion dirhams in 2022, compared to 20.52 billion dirhams the previous year.

REUTERS/STEPHANE MAHE - A sign with the logo of French oil and gas company TotalEnergies appears at a gas station in Bouguenais, near Nantes, France, 14 November 2022.

The fifth Moroccan company in the ranking is Total Energy Marketing, ranked 96th. TotalEnergies Marketing Morocco's revenues grew by 34.13% year-on-year in 2022 due to the continued economic recovery. The company's revenues reach 19.7 billion dirhams in 2022, up from 12.8 billion dirhams last year.