Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM, Morocco’s central bank) Governor Abdellatif Jouahri on Wednesday called for a change of culture to develop the fintech ecosystem that plays a decisive role in the field of financial inclusion.
Speaking at a press conference held alongside the Special Advocate to the UN Secretary General on the Promotion of Inclusive Financial Services for Development (UNSGSA), Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, Jouahri said that Morocco is lagging behind in fintechs, calling for a change of culture to develop this ecosystem.
In this regard, he recalled that the Central Bank has created a one-stop shop to receive fintechs, help them, advise them and supervise their relations with the banking system.
He also stressed the importance of the incentives put in place by the Government to boost the financial sector, noting that the Central Bank spares no effort in collaborating with other institutions for the promotion of fintechs, including the Deposit Guarantee Fund (FGD), the Ministry of Digital Transition and Administrative Reform and the Digital Development Agency.
“The objective is to converge the efforts of stakeholders, each in their field, to create an ecosystem of fintechs that can catch up with Morocco, and at the same time make a benchmark that is useful, to determine the incentives for this system to succeed as quickly as possible,” said Jouahri.
On the other hand, the head pointed out that mobile banking allows safer, faster and cheaper transactions, stressing that cash is a circuit that favors the financing of terrorism and money laundering, hence the interest in opting for digital.
He stressed, in this context, that Morocco is one of the most cash-dependent countries, so he advocated the payment of social benefits to citizens through the digital channel.
In this regard, Morocco’s top banker highlighted a pilot experience launched with the Ministry of National Education, Preschool and Sports, for the “Tayssir” operation, which has yielded positive results, but “not up to expectations”.
Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse