Morocco’s Restaurant Industry Struggles as Government Weighs Relief Measures Amid COVID-19 Surge

A few days ago, the government had said it was willing to ease the restrictive measures in the kingdom. But this did not happen due to the resurgence of contaminations recorded a few days before the month of Ramadan, forcing the government to tighten the preventive measures, said the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Moulay Hafid Elalamy, during a weekly session of the House of Advisors held in the presence of representatives of the business world, informs L’Economiste. These measures have worsened the situation of cafes and restaurants, said an Istiqlal deputy, blaming the government for not having put in place a plan to help those affected by these measures, especially the cafes and restaurants that have remained closed 24 hours a day.

Solving this problem is not easy, the minister said, stressing that 80% of these structures operate in the informal sector. At the same time, 80% of their employees are not declared to the CNSS. Yet, until now, the beneficiaries of the Covid-19 lump-sum allowance of 2000 DH are people declared to the CNSS. Thus, it is complicated to identify the population to be helped in this sector while avoiding fraud. However, a study is planned to identify the people concerned in order to provide them with assistance. By the end of the month of Ramadan, the aid plan could be implemented.

Although the crisis in this sector has been going on for a long time and further complicates things, this decision "proves that the government is willing to help all commercial operators during the fasting period to overcome the ordeal of the pandemic." In this sense, "we will help this sector to overcome this bad situation. But an informal sector of this size can no longer continue like this. We absolutely have to find a solution for its upgrading as soon as the pandemic is over," the minister hammered.