Zouhair Chorfi, Secretary General of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, took part in the 5th African Congress of Accountants « ACOA 2019 » held in Marrakech from June 19 to 21, under the high patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, under the theme: « For a successful performance of the public sector in Africa », by the Order of Chartered Accountants (OEC) of Morocco « Experts-Comptables » in collaboration with the Pan-African Federation of Accountants (PAFA).

More than 1,200 accountants, economists, financial professionals, investors, businessmen, and decision-makers from about 50 countries, including 47 African countries, gathered at this event to discuss the role that the accounting and auditing professions should play in public sector economic performance, efficiency and effectiveness in Africa. Participants also discussed the contribution of the accounting profession to building a more effective public sector that supports Africa’s development.

During his presentation, Mr. Zouhair Chorfi read the address of the Minister of Economy and Finance, Mr. Mohamed Benchaaboun, to the participants. He stressed that Morocco’s focus on Africa under the leadership of King Mohammed VI has expanded to a new dimension that is part of a long-term vision based on South-South cooperation and the requirements of human development.

In his speech, Mr. BenchaAboun said that Morocco has initiated a debate on the need to overcome some shortcomings of its development model. This will include better institutional governance aimed at modernizing the state, improving industrial competitiveness, enhancing human capital, strengthening and increasing social protection systems, reducing social and regional disparities and creating synergy between different sectoral strategies.

In this context, he stressed that the reforms undertaken by Morocco have enabled the country to improve the business climate and move up 10 places in the World Bank’s Doing Business survey, from 69th place in 2018 to 60th place in 2019.

« Our goal is to be 50th in the world by 2021, » he added, noting that to achieve this goal, Morocco will continue the reforms already initiated and accelerate the pace of other reforms implemented, including the operationalization of new regional investment centers.

The three-day meeting will address topics on « Strong Institutions for Successful Public Policy and Public Value Management in Africa, » « Integrated Thinking, a Choice for Managing Resources and Public Sector Performance for Africa, » and « Performance Measurement, Impact Assessment and the Accountability Imperative.