By Leila El Andaloussi *
New technologies do not spare any sector. That of corporate finance and the economy will also change. An innovative financing solution, the Crowdfunding, will soon see the light of day in Morocco and will give life to the dreams of many creators.
In Europe and the United States, crowdfunding has seen unprecedented growth and has helped finance large parts of the economy, as well as social and cultural projects. What will happen to Morocco? Will it give the same impulse to the creative spirit of our entrepreneurs and will it initiate this long-awaited dynamic?
In any case the regulatory framework, in study for several years, is ready. The draft bill on Crowdfunding is indeed currently in consultation until April 21 on the website of the General Secretariat of the Government to collect opinions and proposals for amendments to the public.
Also, it would be interesting to shed light on this new text called to play a leading role in improving the environment of business creation and investment in Morocco.
The spirit and philosophy of this method of financing is to facilitate the collection of funds, and to drive it through an internet platform. Thanks to the latter, it is expected a more massive mobilization of networks of contributors. The risk inherent in the project being smaller because shared.
Thus, the status of collaborative funding platform “PFC” will see the light of day. It will bring together creators, natural or legal persons, and contributors. It will be managed by dedicated structures, the collaborative finance companies “SFC”.
They should operate in the form of commercial companies with a minimum capital of 300,000 dirhams (30,000 euros) and obtain the approval of an administration, to be able to exercise the main activity of Crowdfunding. They can also provide, on an ancillary basis, advice and support for project leaders to professionally support future entrepreneurs.
Crowndfunding can take 3 forms
– It can be a donation platform outright.
The donor plays the role of patron and brings the funds because he believes and by citizen initiative. This act can make sense for him, especially in a country like Morocco where the mobilization of public generosity is not difficult because the culture of donation is well established. This case lends itself more to projects of a cultural, artistic or philanthropic nature.
– Crowdfunding is the second category
The fundraising is then in the form of equity participation by capital increase or by contribution to current account. The counterpart will therefore be earnings compensation.
The text also provides for the possibility for the contributor to intervene as a lender
It will make available to the holder of the project loans paid or not.
In the latter two cases, the mobilization of financing is done by a community composed of a large number of investors with a reduced entry ticket. They can collectively make attractive savings available to creators at a time when banks are reluctant to take the risk inherent in any new project.
The benefits of Crowdfunding are numerous.
The first is to encourage creative talent to express themselves and present innovative and well-crafted projects to enhance their chances of finding a funder.
The internet platform will introduce new flexibility and flexibility in the mobilization of funds. It will also make it possible to disseminate a few projects on a large scale, giving them the necessary visibility with a public looking for original and avant-garde ideas.
As such, the bill provides precisely for the protection of the confidentiality of the projects by the respect of the law 908 relating to the protection of the personal data.
-The collection of funds can now only be done with approved organizations of the profession, regulated by a supervisory authority, and, provided by Bank Al Maghrib for donation activities, and by the Moroccan Authority of the Capital Market “AMMC” for capital investment activities.
-An auditor registered with the Order of Chartered Accountants must also be appointed by the finance company to ensure control and monitoring of the accounts of the SFC.
-The community of contributors may be both resident and non-resident, the flow of funding to be carried out in the latter case according to the exchange regulations.
Our country’s place as a home for foreign investors will only be strengthened. It goes without saying that the latter will continue to benefit from the preferential regime for the repatriation of dividends and other benefits provided for by our legislation.
– With the opening opened up by an increasingly flexible and evolving exchange rate regulation, the national contributors will also be able to invest via the platform in projects located in a foreign country, or in a free zone in foreign currency.
Securing investments abroad, and followed by knowledgeable professionals, will be attractive major arguments of the new system, which will also provide reliable statistics on these flows.
-For collaborative investment-grade funding, it is not restricted to creators, and to the project launch phase. It also allows an existing company to diversify its source of financing and not be limited to the traditional banking sector.
This mechanism will also solve the problem of financing SMEs and SMEs, which are not capitalized and not served by the banks, and will promote the complementarity of the financing chain.
So, to all those who dream of starting their business, this project resounds new promises. The culture of entrepreneurship is ancestral in Morocco. Accompanying structures are numerous. But to accompany this device, it is necessary that the educational programs put even more the spirit of creativity in any step leading to the knowledge, not to sclerose the spirit of innovation.
It is also necessary that real and sustainable incentives are implemented by the state, to lighten the weight of tax and social levies to which is constrained the company at the beginning of activity.
It is also necessary to demonstrate a level of creativity and innovation.
About the Author
Leila El Andaloussi, a member of the Moroccan Order of Chartered Accountants, begins her career in the prestigious firm International Price Waterhouse, where she works for the largest national and international accounts in the industry, the distribution, the real estate, bank insurance, hotels and associations.
Driven by the entrepreneurial spirit from the beginning of her career, she made the leap in 2000, and created ABS Consulting, a business consulting firm that she set up at the highest level, surrounded by experts and advanced consultants in law, taxation and in management and implementation of information system and organization.
