By Lina Ibriz
The management of the pandemic crisis in Morocco has made the Kingdom a global model. An exemplary strategy in the fight once morest the Covid, of course, but which also required the commitment of significant funds to succeed. In Morocco, medical imports soared 138% between 2019 and 2020. Here’s how the crisis has benefited certain industries.
In March 2020, the country announced the creation of a special fund to manage the pandemic. At the end of July 2020, the total amount collected by the Special Fund for the management of the pandemic reached 33.7 billion dirhams (MMDH) at the end of July 2020, according to the General Treasury of the Kingdom (TGR). Expenses, meanwhile, stood at 24.7 billion dirhams. These funds have made it possible to support the national economy and to dilute the impact of the crisis on the most vulnerable populations, but also, and above all, to finance the health systems put in place to counter the spread of the Coronavirus.
Since the announcement of the first confirmed case of contamination, the country has mobilized its entire health system to take care of patients. Having focused its strategy on prevention, screening centers have been set up across the territory. Hospital centers have also been set up to accommodate infected cases, and several new structures have been created for this purpose. In times of shortages and disruptions, the Kingdom has also mobilized to supply the national market with medical devices.
Moroccan imports of medical devices have indeed evolved, between 2019 and 2020, by 138%, thus marking “ unprecedented growth“, according to the Competition Council. These imports, in particular in relation to in vitro diagnostic reagents, from 482 million dirhams in 2019 to 1 billion dirhams in 2020, according to data published in May by the Council.
COVID-19 diagnostic tests, a gold mine?
The health department alone carried out 30% of the imports recorded in 2020. In addition, of the 20 companies that registered their COVID-19 PCR reagent, imports in 2020 involved 1,734 private operators, we read. on the report of the Competition Council. In 2021, private sector imports took place with the predominance of four companies having recorded a market share of 80% during this year, adds the same document.
The Masterlab company monopolized a predominant share, rising from 25% in 2020 to 39% in 2021, an increase of 14%, followed by the Megaflex and Stérifil companies, having imported 14% and 16% of PCR reagents respectively. The market analysis carried out by the Board also highlighted the dominance of the company “IM ALLIANCE”, whose market share increased from 73% in 2020 to 86% at the end of October 2021, i.e. an increase of 4%.
As for the production of these devices, the company Moldiag, for example, produced 3 million COVID-19 RTPCR kits and marketed more than 2.5 million kits on the national market by the end of November 2021. The production capacity of the company Medi is estimated at 1 million tests per month with a cost price of 30 DH per test.
With regard to the downstream market, the authorization of private laboratories to carry out Covid tests would have enabled them to considerably increase their earnings. Before July 2020, the downstream market for COVID-19 tests was entrusted only to public laboratories with a number of 31 laboratories. With the authorization of the private sector in June 2020, the total number of laboratories in the network increased from 31 to 200 laboratories on September 1, 2021, then to 269 laboratories on December 1, 2021, with a predominance of private laboratories of 87%, notes the Competition Council.
The estimated calculations made by the Council’s services on the basis of data collected from the operators concerned have shown that for a private laboratory carrying out the five Covid tests at the same time, namely conventional PCR, rapid PCR, antigenic, serological tests qualitative/quantitative and automated serology, the net result of this laboratory would have increased by a net margin of more than 5 million dirhams over three years, or more than 1.7 million dirhams over a single year.
Protective equipment, fertile ground for Moroccan industrialists
The sudden increase in global demand for protective equipment has been behind a shortage that has risked weakening the health systems of countries around the world. From the outbreak of the crisis, States, private companies, hospitals, and individuals entered into competition to obtain masks, gloves, sanitary gels, etc.
The global market for protective masks has experienced growth “without previous by 223.2% in 2020, to reach a value of $23.7 billion in 2021, according to Fortune Business Insights. The domestic market also followed a similar growth dynamic.
In Morocco, 60 Moroccan textile factories have specialized in the production of masks, ensuring a total production capacity of masks estimated at 16 million per day, including 14 million non-woven masks and 2 million fabric masks. Daughter of the pandemic, the rise of this industry has enabled Moroccan operators to make significant income, especially following the authorization to export these products. In less than a month, between May 21, 2020 until June 8, 2020, Moroccan producers exported nearly 18.5 million units. In 2020, the company Gigalab, for example, achieved a turnover of 36 million dirhams.
Other industries have also seen their activities evolve during the crisis. Rehabilitated, the only factory in Morocco specializing in the production of “ethanol” was able to ensure a production of 240 hectoliters per day of this essential alcohol for the manufacture of disinfectants, the former minister had revealed to the House of Representatives. of Industry, Moulay Hafid Elalamy. In addition, Moroccan operators have also moved towards the manufacture of artificial respirators. The theoretical national production capacity of these devices had been estimated at 1,000 artificial respirators per week in 2020, according to data shared by the former minister.
Vaccines… what price to get out of the crisis?
Once the vaccines were available on the world market, Morocco launched a national vaccination strategy once morest Covid, which made it possible to immunize more than 64% of the population. The first vaccines to reach Morocco were Sinopharm and AstraZeneca. The country then purchased the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and recently received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Across the country, some 420 vaccination centers have been set up, and vaccines have been administered to Moroccan citizens and residents at public vaccination centers.
Admittedly, the free vaccination allowed the acceleration of the immunization of the population and a collective adhesion to this large-scale campaign, but the cost for the State was high. Until September 2020, the country had administered at least 45 million doses. According to data relayed by the Moroccan press, at the end of September 2021, Morocco would have spent 6.79 billion MAD for the purchase of anti-COVID-19 vaccines.
The funds allocated to the vaccination campaign were mainly taken from the Special Fund created in March 2020 for the management of the pandemic. Donations from the private sector, Moroccan citizens and the state budget amounted to 34 billion dirhams, of which 29 billion dirhams were spent in 2020, according to government data. In addition, the rehabilitation of the health sector cost 3.2 billion MAD (352 million dollars). The money was invested to buy hospital equipment, medicines and pharmaceuticals.
Today, Morocco is preparing to turn the page on the pandemic by ensuring the recovery of the economy. Having set ambitious development goals and a well-detailed roadmap, in this case the New Development Model (NMD), the country, navigating a complex global conjuncture, is moving confidently towards true transformation.
