INNOVATIVE mindset
A leading consultancy for large companies and growing businesses all around the world, BDO is using its expertise to help companies in Morocco with their growth strategies.
What is the profile and trajectory of BDO in Morocco?
In the beginning, BDO was a consultancy focused on public companies, especially for conducting audits. We have been developing our portfolio in the private sector for a decade and in the field of digital transformation work for four years. We took over a company specialized in providing support to information devices, treasury, and risk management—to name just a few. This helps us better support companies with their own digital transformations. Today, we have slightly fewer than 100 employees, among whom eight are partners. On the global scale, BDO is a leading consultancy for large companies and growing business, and in Morocco, we are leaders in change of control for companies.
What main challenges did BDO face during the pandemic?
As a consultancy, we launched a business survival kit “Rethink” on a global scale in order to support companies in coping with the pandemic. We have created a platform for SMEs as well as micro businesses. With all processes previously laid out, this has helped us foresee obstacles and be able to define areas of risk, even today. Having already developed digital tools meant that we only suffered a small decrease of five percentage points. In comparison to other consultancies that did not properly manage this period, we were able to avoid a stronger decline, thanks to our support in digital transformation.
What impact has digitalization had on the sector?
We have been fortunate to be able to support companies that were already opening up or that wished to open up to digitalization, which made our job easier. However, the task ahead is to focus on how to live with COVID-19. Everything we are currently working on is aligned with this goal. All our clients that were best able to cope are those that placed human capital at the core of their working processes. Innovation must rely on human capital. For example, one of our clients in the restaurant industry had already made preparations for online orders and was therefore able to rely on well-arranged logistics for delivery. On the flip side, companies that were putting off innovation were the ones to suffer the most.
How will Morocco’s new development model impact the consulting sector and BDO?
If well implemented, it is set to encourage a great number of people who previously expected to become employees to instead start up their own companies. As the chairman of the Moroccan union of self-employed entrepreneurs, I have observed an increasing number of people becoming interested in this new model, since it offers wider accessibility to the labor market than before. It will rely on structuring tools such as crowdfunding and entrepreneurship and is aimed at the lower-level groups seeking civil servant positions. It is to be a great revolution, as it will come with advanced regionalization and puts an emphasis on digitalization. I hope all these elements will be instrumental for those companies that are currently halfway through their transformations. We are always thinking about developing new business. However, it sometimes turns out to be more appropriate and less expensive to strengthen what we already have. If this implementation is achieved, it will be a social plan that will generate wealth for everyone. For companies such as ours, it will allow us to employ people who, upon switching from a salaried worker to a self-employed person, will have high involvement in a development project. We prefer to bring on people who are looking for genuine counseling as they represent our added value. For me, this new model will empower people to emerge and launch new services, while also revealing those who have not been able to achieve their goals. There are sure to be closures in some sectors, but also new services arising as well.
Zakaria Benabdeljalil Sjöberg COUNTRY MANAGER MOROCCO & REGIONAL MANAGER NORTH AND WEST AFRICA, BUSINESS SWEDEN
How long have you been in Morocco, and what is your mission?
Business Sweden enjoys a unique setup by being owned by the Swedish government and the Swedish Industry. The organization is present all over the world and our creation of long-term sustainable partnerships was underscored in 2020 by winning the award for Best Use of Partnership by the World Trade Promotion Organizations Awards. We act as Sweden’s official trade promotion organization, and at the same time as a consultancy firm. We are not allowed to make profit; however, we do levy fees for our services. We do not resemble other trade agencies and we are very much considered a consultancy. Our mission is to help Swedish companies succeed globally and attract international companies’ investments into Sweden. All together, the organization has been active for about 45 years, and we have had an office in Morocco since 2008. With a base in Casablanca, we operate not just in Morocco but also North and West Africa—25 markets in total. The main markets that we are active in are Morocco, Algeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tunisia.
Morocco and Sweden are not necessarily associated with one another, so how do you connect the two?
I hold both Moroccan and Swedish citizenships, so I believe in the connection between both countries. I have come to realize that we can learn a great deal from our differences. Identifying differences in cultures and countries opens opportunities. Both Morocco and Sweden face the same challenge of limited natural resources. Sweden has a large number of forests, but has no access to gas or oil unlike its neighbor. Similarly, Morocco has access to phosphates but not oil. Both countries focus on exports and development of foreign investments to fuel economic growth. Another shared focus is the interest in transforming into a green economy. Sustainability is central for Sweden, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals are heavily considered in Swedish policies, indicated by the fact that Sweden is number one in the global ranking according to the Global Sustainability Report. Morocco has positioned itself as a leader when it comes to the green transition and decarbonization. The country has seen many important investments in renewable energy, for example. These differences and similarities augur large potential for knowledge-sharing and collaboration between Morocco and Sweden.