It’s a long time, we have not considered African continent in terms of ICT development. So, today we’ve decided to explore Internet and e-commerce infrastructure of one of the African countries, Morocco located in North Africa, that’s known officially as the Kingdom of Morocco. Morocco, that represents the fourth most populous Arab country, after Egypt, Sudan and Algeria.Morocco, is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. It’s the world's third-largest producer of phosphorus and the price fluctuations of phosphates on the international market greatly influence Morocco's economy. Country's economy is considered a relatively liberal economy governed by the law of supply and demand. Since 1993, the country has followed a policy of privatization of certain economic sectors which used to be in the hands of the government
As for the ICT field, the country revealed significant expansion as well. So, Morocco appeared to be the first country in the region to install a 3G network. Notably, national communications sector already accounts for half of all foreign direct investments Morocco received over the past five years.
The internet was first introduced in Morocco in 1995 by ONPT, that used to be a Moroccan state-owned-industrial and economic institution. The body was in charge of all communications and telecommunications matters of Morocco.
At present, the main telecommunication company in Morocco is Maroc Telecom (IAM). The company is large employing around 11,178 people. has 8 regional delegations with 220 offices present on all the territory of Morocco. IAM is listed in both Casablanca Stock exchange and Euronext Paris. It’s controlled by Vivendi which has a 53% share of its capital.
IAM provides Internet connection across the country via its subsidiary company Menara, a principal Internet service provider in Morocco. The service started as a test in 2002 before it was launched in 2003. The company offers the following options:• Menara ADSL 128 kbit/s (around €11)
• Menara ADSL 256 kbit/s (around €13)
• Menara ADSL 512 kbit/s (around €17)
• Menara ADSL 1 Mbit/s (around €26)
• Menara ADSL 2 Mbit/s (around €34)
• Menara ADSL 4 Mbit/s (around €52)
• Menara ADSL2+ 8 Mbit/s (around €69)
• Menara ADSL2+ 20 Mbit/s (around €78)
Since 2006, Maroc Telecom has been delivering Internet television package via the ADSL line, that appeared to be the first of its kind in Africa and the Middle East.
The other large national ISP is Méditel, headquartered in Casablanca. Meditel represents a multi service operator that delivers all kinds of consumer and business solutions using various technologies including GSM (900 MHz), WIMAX, GPRS. Besides, the company was among the first operators in the world to offer HSDPA mobile 3G+ internet solutions. The company has been ranked the 12th largest company in Morocco and employs close to 1000 people directly and more than 12 000 indirectly.
Méditel is now offering 3G in 3 different options:
• Méditel 3G+ 1.8 Mbit/s (around €20)• Méditel 3G+ 3.6 Mbit/s (around €35)
• Méditel 3G+ 7.2 Mbit/s (around €60)
By the way, Maroc Telecom also offers 3G in the same different speeds and almost the same prices.
The third largest telecommunication company in Morocco is Wana. It appeared to be one of the early Internet service providers in Morocco. It started marketing its internet services representing the brand Wanadoo, that later was converted to Wana. Initially a subsidiary of France Telecom, the company is now controlled by the Moroccan conglomerate ONA, with Zain of Kuwait holding about 30% of equity.The other popular ISPs are listed below, according to www.ostamyy.com:
• MTDS –represents a full service value-added Internet Service Provider licensed by the Moroccan Telecommunications Regulator the ANRT and operating in Morocco since 1993. MTDS is a technology solutions provider to individuals, businesses and institutions in Morocco and the developing world. The company’s offerings span network infrastructure and design, Internet
access and engineering services, and development consulting. • MAGHREBNET – an ISP that was originally formed to address the growing needs of consumers who wished to gain access to the Internet but who could not identify an appropriate ISP. Currently the company delivers a full range of services to include not only Internet access, but also LAN design, cabling, Network Security, LAN equipment, Wireless LAN, Telephony, VoIP, VoWiFi, Network support services, and premise access control.
• MarocNet
• L&L Technologies
• SIS Consultants
Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Morocco is .ma, administered by Maroc Telecom. A local registrar with a local Moroccan company as administrative contact is needed to register an .ma or .co.ma domain name. Further restrictions are imposed on the registering of other second-level domains.The second-level domains available are:
• ma - general use• net.ma - internet providers
• ac.ma - educational institutions
• org.ma - organizations
• gov.ma - governmental entities
• press.ma - the press and publications
• co.ma - commercial entities
As for the Internet penetration growth, it has made up enormous 10,343 % surge. So, by now the volume of subscribers in Morocco has reached 33%, with almost 10,500,000 people connected. That may be compared to 0.3 % seen in 2000 or 3% - in 2006. Actually, Morocco is amid region leaders in terms of Internet usage, occupying the third position among Africa Top 10 Internet countries.
Being an emerging market at the crossroads of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, with imports making up $11 billion in products each year, Morocco also succeeded in developing of different types of e-commerce and offshore businesses. Moreover, its obvious that the e-commerce commitments could promote establish Morocco as a leader in Middle East and North Africa for the further development of electronic commerce.One of the factors that explain the dynamism of e-commerce in the Kingdom is the strengthening of legal measures dedicated to the protection of personal data under law 09-08, which aims to protect physical persons in the processing of personal data. This bill, passed in January 2009, means that internet users in Morocco can be protected against the abuse of data which could affect their privacy, and brings Moroccan legal provisions in line with those of the EU.
As for the purchasing online, it’s known that over 3 million Moroccans who hold a bank card are now able to use them for buying via the web, mostly owing to technical initiative by the Centre Monétique Interbancaire (CMI).Whilst the CMI is offering the platform as payment recipient, provision of the electronic payment terminal will be the responsibility of Maroc Télécommerce, the only e-commerce operator currently in the market, whose governing body is essentially made up of banks.
The other companies in the country have joined the new system, such as technology vendor "Microchoix.ma" and online shoe shop "Auderby.ma".Meantime many businesses are also currently preparing to deploy online payment modules on their sales sites.
Interestingly, a new offshore site at Casablanca, with state-of-the-art technologies and other incentives, has grabbed the attention of many global multinationals. Setting up offshore service centers in the nation has become attractive. Such is the rate of growth, that off-shoring and IT activities are estimated to contribute $500 million to the country’s GDP and employ 30,000 people by 2015.
The year 2009 showed a strong growth in e-commerce sector. The first half of 2009 was also marked by the launch of three major online improvements for Moroccan consumers. The first is an online payment website, run by Maroc Telecom, enabling customers to pay their landline, mobile, and internet bills. The second is a similar site run by Moroccan water supply company Lydec, allowing users to pay their water and electricity charges online. Finally, in the public sector, the Kingdom's General Treasury (TGR) offered citizens the option to pay their taxes online.Having succeeded in economic development, that let the country to be among the leaders in the region, Morocco has also showed good signs of Internet technologies progress. And, of course, prosperous Internet and related services market has determines success in e-commerce deployment. Fortunately, Morocco is not to stop its advancement, attracting more and more partners and investors.