Meriem Zairi SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR, SEAF MOROCCO GROWTH FUND

How would you describe your first two years operating in Morocco?

After 18 months of operation, we are pleased to announce excellent KPIs and indicators, especially in terms of investments, where we were able to deploy more than 35% of our investable capital in five companies in less than 18 months. These companies were active in healthcare, fintech, and agritech. We are able to close two additional investments as we speak, one in cybersecurity and the other in fintech. We were able to increase the size of our fund by 35% and attract interesting institutional investors, namely Caisse Marocaine des Retraites and Asma Invest.

How has COVID-19 impacted your operations in Morocco?

On a macro level, it was a great opportunity for companies and the government to speed up their digital transformation. Another impact at the macro level was the importance of innovation. We launched an interesting initiative called Solidalite where we shed light on new projects by start-ups and innovation companies that help the government and its citizens to manage this crisis and overcome the associated challenges. On a micro level for us as an investment fund, our portfolio of companies has been affected in different ways, and we had to manage our portfolio to make sure they would survive the crisis and identify where we could support them. On top of this, we help them find opportunities to be seized.