May 18, 2020: The containment period is extended for 3 more weeks
The Moroccan authorities have decided to extend for a further 3 weeks, until 10 June, the period of containment of the population as part of the preventive measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus in the Kingdom. The announcement of the extension was made on Monday 18 May by the Head of Government, Saad Eddine El Otmani, during a joint session of the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors, devoted to the presentation by the Head of Government of the “development of a containment management for the period after 20 May”.
For more information (in French), please consult the following link.
May 18, 2020: Said Amzazi announced baccalaureate exam schedule
The dates of the exams for the first and second years of the baccalaureate have just been announced by the Minister of National Education, Said Amzazi. Speaking yesterday before members of the House of Representatives, Mr Amzazi said that the 2020 ordinary session of the baccalaureate examination will be held on 3 and 4 July for the humanities and original education branches and from 6 to 8 July for the scientific and technical branches and the vocational baccalaureate.
It is now official. The 2020 ordinary session of the baccalaureate examination will be held on 3 and 4 July for the humanities and original education branches and from 6 to 8 July for the scientific and technical branches and the vocational baccalaureate. The dates were announced yesterday by the Minister of National Education, Vocational Training, Higher Education and Scientific Research, Government Spokesman, Said Amzazi, who was speaking at the oral question session in the House of Representatives. Regarding the results of the ordinary session, the minister said they will be announced on 15 July 2020, while the remedial session will take place from 22 to 24 July, all branches combined, knowing that the results of this “second” session will be announced on 29 July 2020.
As far as first-year baccalaureate students are concerned, the Ministry has planned to hold the unified regional examination for this category of students on 4 and 5 September, while for free candidates, the regional examination for the first year baccalaureate is scheduled for 1 and 2 July 2020. Also for free candidates, the national examination of the second year of the baccalaureate will be organized according to the same schedule as for the other students in school. As regards the standardized regional examination of the college cycle and the standardized local examination for the certificate of primary studies for free candidates, they are scheduled for 25 and 26 September 2020. It should be noted that the examination subjects for the first and second years of the baccalaureate will cover exclusively the subjects that have been covered in the face-to-face courses provided up to 14 March 2020, in accordance with the principle of equal opportunities.
For more information (in French), please consult the following link.
May 19, 2020: Launching of a project to manufacture masks in penitentiary institutions
The General Delegation for Penitentiary Administration and Reinsertion (DGAPR) announced Tuesday the launch, in coordination with several ministerial departments, of a project to manufacture medical masks in production units in a number of penitentiary institutions, as part of the adhesion of the delegation and its residents to the national effort to fight against the spread of COVID-19.
One hundred inmates, men and women, from 21 penitentiary establishments are involved in this operation launched on May 5, with a production capacity of 20,000 masks per day, according to a press release from the DGAPR, adding that this capacity will be reinforced soon.
The production operation is carried out in accordance with the health standards adopted at the national level, and in compliance with the conditions required by the supervisory departments, DGAPR continues.
For more information (in French), please consult the following link.
May 19, 2020: Disagreement between Morocco and Spain on the number of Moroccans stranded in Sebta and Melilia
Morocco and Spain disagree on the number of Moroccans stranded in Sebta and Melilia following the closure of Moroccan borders. According to the Moroccan authorities, the number is 420 people. Spain estimates the number at 1,300.
In Sebta, where repatriation has not yet begun, Morocco has 280 nationals stranded. Spain, for its part, speaks of around 700 people, again according to the same sources. According to EFE, which quotes Moroccan government sources, “the count made by Morocco does not take into account the people who were illegally in Sebta and Melilia”.
The “repatriable” people are those who usually live in Morocco and who have found themselves stranded in the two cities after visits made for medical or commercial reasons, among others,” the Spanish agency adds.
For more information (in French), please consult the following link.
May 20, 2020: Businesses activities will resume after Eid Al Fitr.
The Minister of Economy, Finance and Administration Reform, Mohamed Benchaaboun, has announced that companies can resume their activities directly after Eid Al Fitr.
Economic activity, severely affected by the repercussions of the containment set up to combat the coronavirus epidemic, should resume in a few days in Morocco. The Minister of Economy, Mohamed Benchaâboun has given the green light to companies to resume their activities directly after the feast of Aïd Al fitr, despite the extension of the state of health emergency until 10 June. Benchaaboun called on all economic actors to resume the activities of their companies, except those suspended by order of the authorized authorities. “I call for greater mobilization and commitment to take the necessary measures to deploy an economic recovery strategy that we are working, for our part, to outline in the amendment of the finance bill,” he said during the oral question session in the House of Councillors.
For more information (in French), please consult the following link.
May 20, 2020: Morocco loses 100 million euros per day of containment
Figures that put up a wall between the Moroccan Prime Minister, Saâdeddine El Otmani, who extended the containment for three weeks, until June 10, and the Minister of Economy and Finance, Mohamed Benchaâboun, who is more concerned about the repercussions of the pandemic on the country’s economic fabric. During the first four months of the year 2020, Moroccan exports fell by 61.5% and imports by 37.6%, revealed the Moroccan Minister of Economy and Finance before parliamentarians on Tuesday 19 May 2020 during a session devoted to the issue.
For Mohamed Benchaaboun, the consequences are already perceptible with the drop in tourism receipts from 15% to 60%. In front of the Chamber of Councillors, the Minister has specified that the two months of confinement will lead to a 6-point drop in GDP growth in 2020. “Each day of confinement costs 1 billion dirham (100 million euros)”, the minister suggested. This amount could increase without the financial aid whose umbrella has covered for the moment “701,000 employees declared to the National Social Security Fund (CNSS) in temporary cessation of activity in March, and 950,000 in April: a monthly envelope of 2 billion dirhams (200 million euros) is devoted to them”.
For more information (in French), please consult the following link.
20 May, 2020: 1.1 billion dirhams from the EU to support the health system in Morocco
A convention of 1.1 billion dirhams (100 M EUR) was signed Tuesday between the European Union (EU) and Morocco to support the financing of the health sector in the context of the crisis of COVID-19..
Signed by the Minister of Economy, Finance and Public Administration Reform, Mohamed Benchaâboun, the Minister of Health, Khalid Ait Taleb and the Ambassador of the European Union to Morocco, Claudia Wiedey, this agreement will support the financing of health activities as well as the ambitious reform plan carried by the Ministry of Health over the medium term, says a statement from the EU delegation in Morocco. The convention will also accompany future post-crisis solutions COVID-19, helping to make the health sector more resilient to possible future health crises, according to the same source.
For more information (in French), please consult the following link.
21 May, 2020: Voluntary doctors and free health care for refugees in Morocco
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the National Council of the French Medical Association (CNOM) signed a partnership agreement in Rabat on Wednesday 20 May aimed at promoting access to health care for refugees and asylum seekers and combating the spread of the new coronavirus on national territory.
The partnership, signed by UNHCR’s representative in Morocco, François Reybet-Degat, and the president of CNOM, Mohammadin Boubekri, “falls within the framework of support for the National Immigration and Asylum Policy,” according to a statement.
Under the terms of this convention, CNOM undertakes to support the populations of refugees and asylum-seekers by providing consultations in the various medical specialties, including psychology, by volunteer doctors.
Likewise, CNOM undertakes to support the UNHCR in its efforts to establish agreements with Moroccan clinics and laboratories, but also to donate medicines for the benefit of refugees.
“The focus of this convention is on three main points, namely medicine donations, access to mental health care and access to specialist health care,” Reybet-Degat told the press, adding that mental health care is of paramount importance in normal times, but especially in these times of containment due to COVID-19.
For more information (in French), please consult the following link.
21 May, 2020: US$ 127 Million Arab Monetary Fund Loan to Morocco
The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) has just granted Morocco a loan in the amount of US$127 million to meet current challenges. The FMA has “granted a new automatic loan to the Kingdom of Morocco, amounting to 30,844 million Arab dinars in account, equivalent to 127 million US dollars”, said Wednesday a statement from the Arab financial institution.
The agreement relating to this loan was signed on 7 May this year by Mohamed Benchaaboun, Minister of Economy, Finance and Administrative Reform, on behalf of the Kingdom of Morocco, and Abdulrahman A. Al Hamidy, Director General, Chairman of the Board of Directors, on behalf of the Arab Monetary Fund, noting that the purpose of the loan is to support the Kingdom’s financial situation and meet urgent financing needs. In this regard, the statement stressed that the Fund is closely monitoring the evolution of the Moroccan economy and the challenges it faces, given the current circumstances, and is working within the framework of its fruitful collaboration with the Moroccan government to provide appropriate means to meet these challenges, announcing that the FMA is about to complete the procedures for granting a second loan to the Kingdom to support its public finance sector reform program.
For more information (in French), please consult the following link.
22 May, 2020: Repatriation of 300 Moroccans stranded in Sebta
The repatriation of Moroccans stranded in Sebta and Melilia continues and should be completed before the Aid Al Fitr.
After an initial repatriation operation, carried out last weekend, some 300 other people were repatriated from Sebta on Friday. According to the Moroccan authorities, about 150 to 200 other Moroccans are waiting their turn to return home. The first group repatriated from Melilia, last weekend, was put in a fourteen-strong group at the five-star Be Live hotel in Saidia.
To prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, Morocco closed its land borders with the Moroccan presidents of Sebta and Melilia on 13 March. In coordination with Madrid, Rabat had also suspended flights to and from Spain, as well as maritime passenger traffic, which is usually very dense in the Strait of Gibraltar. More than two months later, the Moroccan government provided the Spanish authorities with a list of citizens authorized to return, and since 10:30 am (08:30 GMT), they had been leaving Sebta by bus to Morocco.
For more information (in French), please consult the following link.
May 23, 2020: Official-Aïd Al Fitr celebrated this Sunday in Morocco
Eid Al Fitr 1440 Hejri. will be celebrated Sunday, May 24 in the Kingdom, announced Saturday evening the Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs. In a statement, the ministry said it had proceeded to the observation, after the prayer of Al Maghrib, Saturday 29 Ramadan 1441 H, corresponding to June 23, 2020 and confirmed the observation of the lunar crescent announcing the beginning of the month of Shawwal 1441 Hejri.
For more information (in French), please consult the following link.
