Morocco is up to 30th of 49 economies in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) National Entrepreneurial Context Index (NECI) as noted in the GEM 2023/2024 Global Report, launched today at the Hassan II University of Casablanca. This is a slight increase compared to previous years: Morocco ranked 35th out of 51 economies in 2022 and 39th out of 50 economies in 2020.
The NECI is tabulated based on how a set of national experts score a country’s 13 different Entrepreneurship Framework Conditions (EFCs):
- Entrepreneurial Finance: there are sufficient funds for new startups
- Ease of Access to Entrepreneurial Finance: and those funds are easy to access
- Government Policy — Support and Relevance: policies promote and support startups
- Government Policy — Taxes and Bureaucracy: new businesses are not over-burdened
- Government Entrepreneurial Programs: quality support programs are widely available
- Entrepreneurial Education at School: schools introduce entrepreneurial ideas
- Entrepreneurial Education Post-School: colleges offer courses in how to start a business
- Research and Development Transfers: research is easily transferred into new businesses
- Commercial and Professional infrastructure: quality services are available and affordable
- Ease of Entry — Market Dynamics: markets are free, open and growing
- Ease of Entry — Burdens and Regulations: regulations encourage not restrict entry
- Physical Infrastructure: good-quality, available and affordable
- Social and Cultural Norms: encourage and celebrate entrepreneurship
In Morocco, scores for eight of 13 EFCs increased in 2023 compared to 2022, while five scores decreased. Mostchanges were small, with the biggest increase for Government Policy: Support and Relevance. The largest fall was for Entrepreneurial Finance. As with many economies, the Entrepreneurial Education at School was by far the lowest score. Physical Infrastructure was the highest.
New questions in 2023 saw national experts assessing the quality of social support for women entrepreneurs, as well as their access to resources compared to male entrepreneurs. Morocco scored modestly in each, with a score of 2.9 for social support (ranked 41st) and a higher score of 4.9 for relative access to resources, ranked 29th.
The government has launched a number of major programs to help entrepreneurs and unemployed young people in Morocco. The new “Forsa” program in Morocco aims to finance and support 10,000 new entrepreneurs, while the “Awrach” plan is designed to secure temporary employment for up to 250,000 young Moroccans.
“The data presented today in the Global Report launch event allows for comparisons of Morocco's entrepreneurial ecosystem to other countries,” said Abdellatif Komat, Dean at the Hassan II University of Casablanca. “The assessments and conclusions are very useful for researchers, academics, policymakers and the government as they develop strategic interventions to promote entrepreneurship in Morocco.”
The GEM Morocco team has been conducting annual GEM surveys since 2015 through the "Entrepreneurship & SME" Research Center at Hassan II University Casablanca's Faculty of Law, Economics, and Social Sciences.
The Global Report launch at the Hassan II University took place in the presence of GEM National Teams from the world and dignitaries in Morocco. In addition to the report launch event, GEM Morocco also hosted a Research Seminar on Monday 12 February. The theme was Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship.
Sponsors of the event include were Hassan II University of Casablanca; Morocco’s Ministry of Economic Inclusion, Small Business, Employment and Skills; and Morocco’s Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation.