Más de 28.000 empresas ya se han beneficiado en Marruecos de los préstamos de Intelaka

The Intelaka project, launched in 2020 to support youth entrepreneurship in the business sector, has achieved "very encouraging" results, reports L'economiste. According to the French daily, some 44,695 loans worth Dh6 billion have already been granted.

In total, 28,665 companies have already benefited from the programme, a figure that is in line with the objectives set out in the project prior to the programme's launch, which aimed to distribute 13,500 loans per year. In the first five months of 2022 alone, 94% of the credits set as a target for this year have already been distributed.

The Intelaka project is positioned as a support plan for entrepreneurship that aims to generate investments of 13.7 billion dirhams and contribute to the creation of 97,000 new jobs in the companies benefiting from the aid and, consequently, in their sectors. This is 159% of the target of 27,000 per year

By the end of 2021, contributions at the end of 2021 were approximately 4 billion dirhams distributed between the state and the banks. "This is in addition to payments from the Hassan II Fund for Economic and Social Development, which are made in accordance with the requests of the banks, which have reached 613 million dirhams. These contributions correspond to the commitments of the above-mentioned parties within the framework of the agreements signed," the French business daily notes.

During the last meeting of the steering committee of the Financing and Entrepreneurship Support Fund, in which the first results of the project were presented, an assessment was also made of the possible improvements that could be made to the programme in the future, especially with regard to the support and joint work of all stakeholders. The aim is that all areas of the project work to create new proposals that will help improve the programme and contribute to the inclusion of the new generations in the Moroccan economy

At the beginning of the event, the Moroccan Minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fettah Alaoui, recalled the objective of the recently launched project: "This meeting was an opportunity to take stock of the steps taken, given that the objectives in terms of number and volume of loans have reached approximately 90%, and to take stock of the improvements to be made, especially in terms of support".

Nadia Fettah Alaoui has gone down in Moroccan history as the first female Minister of Economy and Finance and took up the post on 7 October 2021 during the government of Aziz Akhannouch. However, this is not the first public office she has held, as between 2019 and 2021 she was already elected Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts, Air Transport and Social Economy.

The financing products offered by the Intelaka project, namely Damane Intelak, Intelak Al Moustatmir Al Karaoui and Start-TPE, have managed to reach the volume of loans envisaged by the project, with rural areas attracting 20% of the financing projects. Most of them have been for investment, trade and distribution, agriculture, industry, and services.

The Intelaka programme, which is the result of a public-private partnership, is part of King Mohammed VI's directives to facilitate access to financing for businesses, especially small and very small ones.