Four success stories of companies that have succeeded in Morocco

The success stories of Spanish companies in Morocco were one of the main themes of the business meeting "Doing Business in Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Region" held in Barcelona, which gave voice to the leaders of four Spanish companies that have set up in the region to tell their "success story", in order to encourage other companies to invest in Morocco in general and particularly in the region of Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima.

Mustafa Shimdat, the representative of Indo Maroc, introduced the Catalan-born company, founded in 1937, and explained how it began, in the 1990s, its journey towards internationalisation.

Indo Maroc has been established in Morocco since 1993, when it first landed in Tangiers. As they are market leaders in Morocco, with almost a third of the market, the company did not hesitate to inaugurate its new headquarters, which consists of an optical lens manufacturing laboratory.  

Shimdat stressed that "Tangier is the south of Europe from where the company exports its products to African and European countries", revealing that the laboratory is run 100% by Moroccan skilled labour led by a woman.  

The representative of Indo Maroc remarked that "Morocco is the most stable country in Africa and the Middle East and a land full of opportunities, with a qualified workforce", pointing out that "more than 10,000 new engineers graduate every year in Morocco".

"Thanks to the support of the Chamber of Commerce and the accompaniment of the Regional Investment Centre, the company has been able to grow outside its home country", added Mustafa Shimdat, clarifying that "despite being in business for more than 30 years, the company continues to benefit from the advice of these two key institutions for any investor wishing to invest in Morocco".  

Speaking of the challenges for companies wishing to set up in Morocco, Shimdat pointed out that "cultural integration represents one of the challenges involving the adaptation of work, marketing and final product mechanisms to the needs of the market and the cultural specificities of the country".

"In Morocco, there are real subsidies, which are managed with very simple and easily accessible processes," he concluded.

The CEO of Sanford Federal, Youssef Mandour, made it known that the company set up in Morocco when the infrastructure and IT industry did not yet exist in Morocco. This was a real challenge, as it had to train a specialised workforce for this type of industry.  

Along the way, the company has learned to work with both governments and local stakeholders, expanding its facilities due to the increase in specialised staff working for it, which has allowed it to triple its profits in the United States this year thanks to the business in Morocco.

"We have succeeded in getting the Moroccan youth we work with to learn the American culture of working hard and achieving goals. As well as we have saved 65% of costs by moving our services from the US to Morocco," explained Youssef Mandour mentioning that "Tangier is a wonderful city to invest, work and enjoy life".

Youssef Mandour's advice to any company that wants to invest in Morocco is to count on the support and guidance of the Regional Investment Centre of the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region and the Chamber of Commerce that can guide them in their integration into the Moroccan market.

Alba Carré, director of Calsina Carré, represented a Catalan family business from the Empordà region that is dedicated to transport and logistics, as well as other services such as secure parking and service stations.  

The company was started by his grandfather, 50 years ago, with a lorry at the French border and continued to grow until it became a small multinational company, with subsidiaries in France, Holland, Romania and Portugal. From there, the company began to invest in Morocco, looking to the North African country as a very important strategic axis for the company's development in Africa.

Alba Carré underlined that "Morocco is an unstoppable country, full of opportunities, with new infrastructures, multiple international companies and qualified personnel willing to work". Added to these factors is Morocco's privileged geopolitical situation with the port of Tangier Med, which plays a fundamental role with a growing ecosystem and is committed to the African market.  

"The problem we had with the lack of drivers has now been solved in Morocco, where there is a lot of manpower willing to work, which is a very important contribution for us," added Alba Carré.

"The company currently has 100 drivers plus another 100 local collaborators, and a staff of around 50 people. We have decided to take another leap forward in our commitment and also offer logistics solutions for warehousing. In fact, last year we acquired a 20,000 square metre plot of land in Tangier Automotive City, where we are building a warehouse," explained the Calsina Carré company representative.  

Mohammed Benajiba, representative of Vita Couture, a textile company that offers branded garments, specified "how the company focuses on quality, creativity and design as the foundations of the textile business, which has allowed it to grow at double digits annually since 2013".

Vita Couture's relationship with Spain is fundamental as it is, on the one hand, a privileged customer and, on the other hand, a strategic supplier in several areas.

Benajiba recalled the experience of the Joint Venture with Textil Santanderina, in the free zone of Tangier, dedicated to digital textile printing.

"Installed 15 years ago in Morocco, Vita Couture started in 2021 to undertake the reverse path and invest in Spain, opening branches in Barcelona and Madrid, with more than 20 people working in each of the cities," Benajiba informed inviting Catalan business friends to visit Tangier and launch themselves alone or with a serious Moroccan partner to create new business in Morocco.  

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