Morocco’s real estate sector sings the tune of optimism

Let’s ask the question first. We all know how the economic bigwigs (developed nations) in the global arena have been suffering on account of the existent recession and it is without a shred of doubt that the worst impact is on the real estate sector. What is the condition of other countries then? Well, there are only a few exceptions and others are in the same position. One of these exceptions is certainly Morocco or officially the Kingdom of Morocco, located in North Africa, which boasts of its coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea.

How can this be? Is this a miracle? Well, nothing of that sort but the same recession has invigorated the country in a different way. Morocco is gearing up to implement noble plans to demolish its shanty towns, where decades of state neglect have bred despair and religious extremism. Now it’s the time to translate the same idea into action or reduce the difference between theory and praxis.

The concept has also stimulated Morocco's property firms who were disconsolate owing to the decline in demand for luxury homes and tourist facilities at the rear of the global financial crisis. What are their present activities therefore? It has been witnessed that they are getting busy in capitalizing on a state-backed scheme to domiciliate 4 million slum dwellers in new flats.

The role of the concerned government is indeed exemplary and the developers are being offered slashed price rates if they are successful in selling some floors of their apartment blocks to slum families below the market price. How can the impoverished families afford these? Bear in mind that the very families receive grants to help them pay.

However detractors seem to be skeptical of the success of the entire project. But the proponents consider that critics must confide in the governmental reports that state emphatically thirty towns have been cleared of slum areas since 2004 and 50,000 shacks were destroyed last year.

The concept is both novel and elegant. Is this a Moroccan version of bail out package or the resurrection of discarded and besieged centrally planned economy?