Public investment in Morocco: «A gap in efficiency and effectiveness»
In Morocco, public investment is a priority for the national Government. Investment efforts can be seen, for example, in the marked increase in the allocated budget. However, despite growing public investment, evaluations point to a « gap in investment efficiency and effectiveness, in terms of access to and perception of public infrastructure». The level of access to these infrastructures is inferior to that of comparable countries. This is mentioned in a new OECD report entitled « Public Investment in Morocco: A Strategic Lever for the Country’s Sustainable Development, OECD Public Governance Reviews, 2024 «. The report states that Morocco has requested the support of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to help it reform its public investment system. In addition to an assessment, the document highlights strengths and weaknesses, and proposes recommendations. According to the Organization, Morocco would benefit from adopting an integrated approach to reform, which takes into account three phases: planning, implementation, and evaluation. Here are the details:
• Strategic vision: The public investment management system faces several challenges, including the lack of a unified framework in this area. The strategic vision for public investment is disseminated in different strategic documents, however, there is no comprehensive cross-sectoral strategic document for public investment, notes the OECD report. Morocco would therefore benefit from developing this overall cross-sectoral strategic vision. Sectoral strategies may lack realism when it comes to public investment. In this respect, the country would benefit from developing realistic strategies in line with budget allocations, but also from strengthening vertical and horizontal coordination (between sectors) for public investment.
• Systematic evaluation: Although some evaluation practices exist in certain sectors, there is no systematic practice in Morocco for the evaluation of investment projects. The Kingdom would benefit from establishing a framework for the systematic and rigorous evaluation of public investment projects, which examines the necessity and desirability of undertaking a given investment. This framework should define common steps for all investment projects, as well as the minimum analysis required depending on the size and complexity of the project.
• Formalize financial and technical criteria: Prioritization criteria exist in certain sectors, but are not necessarily formalized. Moreover, most public investment projects are prioritized according to the budgetary constraints of each annual finance law. Morocco should formalize financial, technical, socio-economic, and environmental criteria for prioritizing projects by sector, to ensure that the sometimes limited resources are allocated to projects that will have the maximum positive impact in each of these considerations. Infrastructure projects should also systematically take into account environmental prioritization criteria.
Fatim-Zahra TOHRY
