Gonzalo Gortázar participates in the Tanja Foundation's ‘Neighbourhood Dialogues in a Global World’
The Tanja Foundation has organised in Casablanca its 15th edition of ‘Neighbourhood Dialogues in a Global World’ with a guest of honour, Gonzalo Gortazar - CEO of CaixaBank.
The high-level meeting brought together the main Moroccan representatives of the banking sector in Casablanca Finance City, together with high-level professionals from the world of finance and banking, as well as hydrocarbons, renewable energies, phosphate and ecology.
The event was attended by fund managers, an emerging sector in Morocco.
The Moroccan Minister of Equipment and Water, Nizar Baraka, highlighted the major projects being developed in our neighbouring country, but stressed the scarcity of large IBEX companies. There are few large Spanish companies present, despite the fact that Spain has consolidated its position as Morocco's leading economic partner, surpassing France, while all the CAC40 companies are present.
In a dialogue with the ambassador to Morocco in Washington, Youssef Amrani, the CEO of CaixaBank, Gonzalo Gortázar, set out what could well be the rules of development. It is necessary to be ‘stable and prosperous’. This is a fact, although this stability is not always understood.
Gortázar explained how to deal with bank concentration after the disappearance of savings banks through absorption by banks.
In Spain, in the current context, and after a very strong bank concentration, since 2009, the number of banks has decreased from 55 to 10, thus reducing competition and potential sources of financing for SMEs that can no longer afford the availability of guaranteed bank financing. Traditional sources of finance are becoming less accessible and banks are increasing the cost of credit for SMEs.
This intense consolidation has led to 80% of SME lending being concentrated in 5 financial institutions (in Morocco, 3 banking groups account for 75% of SME financing).
While in more advanced countries such as the United States 80% of business financing comes from outside the traditional banking system, in Spain only 20% (mainly large companies) have taken advantage of alternative financing.
Private debt funds, often presented as competitors to bank financing, should in fact be seen as a complement to it.
Transformation/digitisation of the sector
As of 2022 and its 189 closed bank branches, the physical network of Moroccan banks continues to shrink, to the benefit of rampant digitalisation. In Spain, more than 21,000 bank branches have been closed since 2009, representing a reduction of around 52% of the total number of branches. The Spanish bank that has closed the most branches since 2009 is CaixaBank, with around 8,000 branches closed.
Central banks and supervisors have recognised that climate change is a source of risk to financial stability.
Gonzalo Gortázar's conclusions
The progress made in Morocco in recent years, with significant advances in economic development and political and business stability, gives us the confidence to continue our firm commitment to the country as a key economic centre in the region, and encourages us to continue our investments in this area.
Among the sectors in which CaixaBank sees the greatest future opportunities in Morocco are: energy and environment, particularly collaboration in renewable energy and environmental projects; infrastructure; transport; water resources; sustainable agriculture; sustainable tourism; digital services and the World Cup 2030, as a catalyst for many future investments. ‘World Cup 2030 is a unique opportunity for us,’ he stressed.
Gonzalo Gortázar assures that several issues need to be addressed in order to integrate into the main forms of global cooperation: climate, inequalities and building trust in institutions. On the contrary, ‘we have the capacity to do things together,’ he said.
The Tanja Foundation is an institution founded in 2007 with the aim of promoting dialogue and the development of common projects between countries and Spain, creating links between the economic actors of both countries.
