Micro loans stood at 500 million euros by the end of September 2004
Morocco, Economics, 2/17/2005

Moroccan micro-finance associations granted loans totalling 5 billion Dhs (around 500 million euros) by the end of September 2004, which is a 47 percent rise compared to the amount granted by the end of December 2003, a report of the micro-credit associations federation (FNAM) said.

The document, released on the occasion of the international micro-credit year, said the sector counts 11 associations that are member of the FNAM, and some 403,000 beneficiaries, including 71.3 percent of women. The number of beneficiaries went up by 34 percent in 2004.

Micro-lending and related activities helped create 1.745 jobs by the end of September 2004, which is a 75 percent increase compared to the 1000 jobs created by the end of December 2003.

Operators in the sector granted loans of 2.2 million Dhs during the nine first months of 2004, and collected 99.7 percent in paybacks, FNAM said. The federation added that heterogeneity of the sector entails overindebtedness and is a risk for small associations.

Poor communication, information sharing and transparency are the main challenges hampering the sector, according to the report.

FNAM was established in 2001 to set rules for the sector, and make proposals to the Finance Ministry on actions likely to develop micro-finance in Morocco.

Meantime, The Moroccan program on micro-financing aims at upping the number of beneficiaries to one million families in the coming years, said chairman of the national micro-credit associations federation (FNAM), Rida Lamrini adding the objectives of the program are in line with the UN vision that aims at making 100 million families benefit from this kind of loans.

Lamrini made the statement to the media at the end of a meeting in Rabat, presided at by Premier driss Jettou, that inter alia decided to launch next Tuesday the international micro-credit year in Morocco and expound the findings of the study on the impact of micro-financing in Morocco.

This first meeting of the national micro-finance committee, which was held on the occasion of the proclamation by the UNO of 2005 as the international micro-credit year, enabled the committee to review the objectives of the Moroccan program. The FNAM is tapping financial resources estimated at 6 billion Dhs, around 600 million euros, and works for setting up mechanisms likely to help micro-credit associations carry on their efforts, Lamrini said.

During the meeting, UN and UNDP residing coordinator, Emmanuel Dierckx de Casterle, said UN bodies are ready to "fully support" the activities of the Moroccan program.

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