http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_46/b4203080895976.htm
Monday, November 22, 2010
Phosphate: Morocco's White Gold
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_46/b4203080895976.htm
Friday, November 16, 2007
Morocco draws 2-2 with France in Paris
Tarik Sektioui put Morocco ahead in the eighth minute when he tapped home from close range after France goalkeeper Mickael Landreau couldn't control a long shot from Youssef Hadji.
Govou leveled in the 15th, swapping passes with Nasri on the edge of the penalty area, taking a touch to move inside his defender, and firing a low shot across goalkeeper Nadir Lamyaghri for his sixth international goal.
In the 75th, Nasri controlled a ball on his thigh and then hit a powerful shot from 23 yards (meters) into the bottom corner.
A minute later, Landreau dropped a high ball and Hadji headed wide of an open net. In the 84th, Morocco opened up France's defense down the left and Mokhtari struck powerfully past Landreau from the edge of the penalty area.
France was using the match as a warmup for its final European Championship qualifier at Ukraine on Wednesday.
"We suffered, we fell behind and we were shaken up a lot," France coach Raymond Domenech said. "We could have this again on Wednesday."
The World Cup finalists need only a draw against Ukraine in Kiev to qualify for next year's tournament in Austria and Switzerland, and they can also advance if Italy beats Scotland on Saturday.
France leads Group B with 25 points, one more than Scotland and two more than Italy. All three have a chance to claim one of the two spots.
"The idea of this match was to play as well as possible and to prepare for the match in Ukraine," Domenech said. "The result is a fair one given what happened on the field. We conceded two goals, we suffered."
Florent Malouda, who is recovering from a knee injury, and Barcelona striker Thierry Henry were both rested by Domenech at Stade de France.
The French national anthem was roundly booed and jeered, and French fans were largely outnumbered by their Moroccan counterparts.
Hadji went close for Morocco moments after Govou's goal, but France gradually got on top and Lamyaghri dove low to his right to palm away Francois Clerc's powerful shot in the 26th.
Shortly before halftime, Landreau dove to his right to punch away Youssef Safri's curling freekick, and Lamyaghri almost juggled Jerome Rothen's freekick into his own net.
Nicolas Anelka, recovered from a thigh tear, replaced Karim Benzema midway through the second-half and had a chance to score in the 71st when released by Nasri. However, the Bolton striker shot straight at Lamyaghri.
Lineups:
France: Mickael Landreau, Francois Clerc, William Gallas, Lilian Thuram (Sebastien Squillaci, 63), Patrice Evra, Claude Makelele (Jeremy Toulalan, 46), Lassana Diarra, Sidney Govou, Jerome Rothen (Mathieu Flamini, 81), Samir Nasri, Karim Benzema (Nicolas Anelka, 63).
Morocco: Nadir Lamyaghri, Michael Basser, Abdeslam Ouaddou, Amine El Erbate, Badr El Kadouri, Abdelkrim Kissi (Abderrahmane Kabous, 46), Houssine Kharja (Noureddine El Boukhari, 46), Youssef Safri, Youssef Hadji (Jaouad Zairi, 83), Tarik Sektioui (Youssef Mokhtari, 74), Marouane Chamakh (Soufiane Alloudi, 66).Rescuing Tangier
In the twilight hours, there is hardly a folding chair left unoccupied on the terraces of Café Hafa. Hundreds of young men fill the public squares on the hill rising steeply up from the Bay of Tangier. Bees hover around glasses of sweet mint tea and the regulars while away the hours playing cards until the sun sets into the sea.
Sucking on their water pipes filled with kif, the hashish grown in the nearby Rif Mountains, they gaze across to the opposite coast, where 20 kilometers away the first lights blink on. These are the lights of promise burning on the Spanish coast, where the stuff of their dreams can be found: work, prosperity -- a future.
The Café Hafa, an island in the wretchedness, has become the emblem of the forgotten city of Tangier. Tangier, once one of the places that drew Western bohemians to Morocco, where the US writer Paul Bowles, the British painter Francis Bacon and the Rolling Stones followed their Tangerine Dreams, their gaze drifting from the Orient back towards Europe. And today, even more than in the past, it can be said that the future lies over the sea.
African Awakening
But the end is in sight for the despondency at Café Hafa. The melancholy view from the hillside will soon be hemmed in by construction cranes. The sunshine of the African coast already bounces off the first gleaming facades. King Mohammed VI wants to remake the 3,600-year-old city of Tangier into the showcase of the new Morocco. Here, on the borderline between two continents, where the Atlantic and the Mediterranean meet, he is constructing the future epicenter of an African awakening.
Over €1 billion ($1.45 billion) of public funds, in addition to loans from the European Union and private investment from France, Germany and the United Arab Emirates have been poured into his pet project, which aims to spruce Tangier up, transforming it into a hub of intercontinental trade with Europe, Asia and America. His project should lead to jobs for the younger generation and help drag the north of the country out of its state of underdevelopment.
To bring this project to fruition, the King has appointed one of his most trusted technocrats, Mohammed Hassad, 54, as governor of the long-neglected northern region of Tangier-Tétouan. Prior to this appointment, the engineer, a graduate of an elite Parisian university, succeeded in turning Marrakech, the erstwhile capital of the Berber Almoravid dynasty, into the country's greatest tourist attraction.
Now it falls to the former minister for infrastructure to ensure that along with goods, Europeans also flow back into Tangier, bringing prosperity with them. Hassad wants to pick up where the glorious years from the mid-1920s to independence in 1956 left off. At that time, the north of Morocco was administered by the French and its extreme south by the Spanish. Tangier, however, had international status, and in those days it was intellectuals and spies in the service of the world powers who gathered in Café Hafa.
Decently Paid Jobs
Diggers and heavy cement mixers are already visible in coastal areas as indicators of a new boom. Hotels and conspicuous villas are springing up along previously virgin beaches; electricity and drinking water will soon be supplied to even the most isolated villages. Tangier, a city in which most inhabitants can switch seamlessly from Arabic into Spanish and French, has applied to host the 2012 Expo. The decision is due at the end of November. Governor Hassad estimates the cost at around $400 million; the metamorphosis into an international hot spot should "bring in hundreds of millions of dollars."
Decently paid employment is the ultimate goal. Today, many young men still risk their lives to seek their fortunes illegally on the other side of the Strait of Gibraltar. Already, 800,000 Moroccans are the legal guests of their neighbors to the north -- more than the total population of Tangier.
It wasn't supposed to be that way. The stated aim of the previous government under Driss Jettou was to provide the younger generation with a high-quality education.
Over a quarter of the national budget in the past five years has gone toward improving public schools and universities. Unemployment was pushed under the 10 percent mark -- thanks largely to 8.1 percent growth -- but in some places, especially in the northern part of the country, half of all those under 25, including those with university degrees, remain jobless.
It's a problem the north has always had. By the time King Hassan II -- the father of the current monarch -- died in 1999, he had never visited the rebellious region. The farmers in the bleak Rif Mountains lived off the cultivation of cannabis, while bands of smugglers went about their business undisturbed. Now, though, the 44-year-old King Mohammed VI has discovered the region for himself.
Celebrities and Money
He and his entourage often spend summers here waterskiing. From his palace on the hill, he likes to look out over the bay -- and his likes to host the rich and famous. In recent years, the figures he has managed to entice to settle on the outskirts of the "most beautiful city in the world", as Tangier was described by the ancient Greeks, have included the fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González and the Parisian philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy.
But the King doesn't just bring celebrities to the area. At the end of July, he opened the first terminal of the Tangier-Mediterranean container harbor, 40 kilometers east of the city, after a record construction time of just five years.
Work is expected to start on a second terminal, which will be operated by an international consortium led by the German port logistics company Eurogate, within the next 12 months. By 2012, the Tanger Med Port will have become the largest deep water port in Africa, with total capacity of 8.5 million containers per year. Hamburg, the largest container port in Germany, passed this mark just a year ago.
Multiple cargo ships will be able to dock here at the same time, transferring goods from Asia and the Gulf States for further shipment across the Atlantic or for transport by truck to Europe and North Africa. A roll-on-roll-off complex is to be built that can handle 1.5 million vehicles and five million passengers. Where today the car ferries to Spain berth, glitzy yachts might bob on the waves while on the piers, refined restaurants and expensive boutiques will encourage promenades and shopping.
In the external service area there are three new special economic zones covering 10 square kilometers for logistics, industry and trade. Here, the textiles, automobiles or aircraft parts unloaded in the port can be further processed and given a Moroccan label. As Morocco has a free trade agreement with the USA and a special economic relationship with the European Union, goods can be imported and exported duty free.
The French car manufacturer Renault, together with its Japanese partner Nissan, wants to construct a plant in Tangier in which, from 2010 onwards, vehicles for export into the EU will be assembled. Many European firms have established their call centers in Tangier and a total of 150,000 new jobs are expected for the region.
Tunnel Under Gibraltar
Europe's leading port management company Eurogate likewise plans to open its doors in Morocco. And they are hoping to employ as many Moroccans as possible. "We think there is enough expertise available within the country," says Eurogate's Tangier representative Jörn-Peter Kassow.
The new harbor city in Tangier, painted entirely white and only two floors high, was designed by the Parisian architect Jean Nouvel. Three further living areas for the staff of the terminal and of the free trade area are under construction.
A bid worth billions was recently accepted from a French consortium for a high-speed rail link between Tangier and Marrakech, and the Spanish want to construct a tunnel under the Strait of Gibraltar.
By 2010, Morocco expects to attract 10 million tourists a year, and hopes that many of them will make a stop in Tangier. With that in mind, the city is experiencing a construction boom. The Grand Socco, as the main square is called, has already been transfigured. Night-time revelers gather here at the fountains outside the cinema. The plush former Cinéma Rif, in which film-goers could smoke and drink, was rescued from demolition by Yto Barrada, 36.
The photographer and video artist, who represented her country this year at the Venice Biennale, got together with film aficionados to promote the reincarnation of the Rif as a cultural center. In addition to provocative Moroccan films, Barrada also shows American blockbusters. "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down," is her philosophy she says.
The King seems to agree. He is hoping that the many economic sweeteners he is now sending to the region will ultimately result in plenty of free tables at Café Hafa. A further hope, is that if the young men in the region have work, they will be less likely to get mixed up with religious zealots.
Poor and Desperate
It is a problem the region has long experienced. Extremists had little trouble finding recruits among the poor and desperate. The men behind the May 2003 suicide bombing in Casablanca had a hideout in Tangier and several of those responsible for the March 2004 train bombing in Madrid came from the region.
In the election in September, most young people from the north cast their ballots for the Islam-oriented "Justice and Development Party." The northern support meant the religious party became the second strongest political force in the country -- behind the conservative nationalists who are currently in power. The result hardly came as a surprise: Until now, they have been the only political party to concern themselves with the poverty of the north.
36 Hours in Marrakesh, Morocco
EVERY generation, Westerners find new reasons to go gaga for Marrakesh. For Edith Wharton and Winston Churchill, the draw was medieval Islamic architecture and rugged mountainous landscapes. For the globetrotting hippies of the woozy “Marrakesh Express” days, the appeal lay in “charming cobras” and “blowing smoke rings,” to quote Crosby, Stills and Nash. These days, with Marrakesh emerging as the center of North Africa’s style and night life, everyone from Julia Roberts to Naomi Campbell has threaded through its labyrinthine old lanes in search of celebrity chefs, opulent spas and designer boutiques. Indeed, for many of Europe’s jet set playgrounds — Ibiza discos, Riviera beach clubs, Paris hotels — a Marrakesh outpost is now de rigueur.
FRIDAY
4 p.m.
1) OLD MEDINA
For full immersion into Marrakesh’s sights, sounds and smells, dive into the twisted passages of the Medina, the city’s old quarter. Head up Rue Souk Semarine, and you’ll pass veiled women, clambering mule carts, and narrow passages with stalls selling all manner of hand-spun textiles, inlaid mirrors, brass lanterns, wooden chests, fragrant leather goods, ceramic vases and enough carpets to pad the Alaskan wilderness. Haggling is essential. So is your poker face: feign indifference, affect a cool exterior and occasionally exaggerate outrage at counteroffers. Finish at the Ben Youssef Medersa, a 16th-century Koran school adorned with dazzling mosaics, intricate cedar panels and religious verses carved in white plaster. (No phone or Web site, and the location can be tricky to find, but it is right next to the Musée de Marrakech on Place Ben Youssef. Admission is 40 dirhams, or about $5 at 7.95 dirhams to the dollar.)
8 p.m.
2) PALACE FOR YOUR PALATE
Whether you’re proposing to your partner, celebrating an anniversary or pleading forgiveness for an affair — or if you’re just plain starved — everything is romantically presented and expertly cooked in the sumptuously Moorish interiors of Le Tobsil (22 Derb Moulay Abdallah Ben Hezzian; 212-24-44-40-52). The menu, which changes daily, typically includes cold Moroccan tapaslike salads, savory-sweet tagines and couscous with stewed meats and vegetables. A fruit-heavy dessert and glass of sweet mint tea provide the coda. Dinner for two is fixed at 1,200 dirhams, and includes wine. Reservations essential.
10 p.m.
3) MARKET LEADER
North Africa’s most famous market, Djemaa el Fna square, explodes to life after dark. Lorded over by the illuminated minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque, oceans of revelers come out to dine at sizzling food stalls and soak up the carnivalesque atmosphere conjured by monkey handlers, cobra charmers, drummers, acrobats, musicians, soapbox preachers and folk-medicine hawkers. If you can handle more dessert, visit the spice-cake dealers (40 dirhams a slice) and wash it down with a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice (a mere 3 dirhams) from one of the myriad fruit carts.
SATURDAY
10:30 a.m.
4) PUBLIC HAREM
The sprawling 19th-century Bahia Palace (Rue Riad Zitoun el Jedid, Medina; 212-44-389-564) solves a design quandary that few architects today confront: How to build a house for a grand vizier’s 4 wives and 24 jealous concubines? The answer seems to be very stylishly and carefully, judging from the masterfully tiled, chiseled and carved details of the opulent palace. Admission is 10 dirhams to tour its intricate layout of rooms, gardens, courtyards and pavilions. Now a museum, the palace still periodically receives V.I.P.’s, including the hip-hop sultan Sean Combs, who flew in his entourage for a 2002 birthday bash.
Noon
5) LUNCH AMONG THE RUINS
Next to the former Jewish quarter and overlooking the time-worn walls of 16th-century El Badi Palace, the terrace of KosyBar (47 Place des Ferblantiers, Medina; 212-24-38-03-24) is a chic perch for a noontime bite. Settle into the deep couches, absorb the jazz-soul soundtrack and contemplate the menu of sushi, sashimi and various Euro-Oriental fusion dishes. Chilled carrot soup with ginger and cumin (50 dirhams) cuts the heat like a North African answer to gazpacho, while goat cheese ravioli (80 dirhams) adds Continental flair.
1:30 p.m.
6) MERCHANDISE MAZE
Riding a Moorish-Moroccan wave, young designers are modernizing Old World styles with contemporary Western touches. You’ll find many of their boutiques hidden in the Medina. Start at Original Design (231 Rue Riad Zitoun, Jedid; 212-24-38-22-76), where Ibtissam Ait Daoud sells her sleek ceramics — flying saucer ashtrays (120 dirhams), cylindrical vases (150) and volcano-shaped pitchers (120) — in tangerine, aubergine and silver hues. Owned by a French-Moroccan couple, Warda la Mouche (127 Rue Kennaria; 212-67-34-73-74) deals in prêt-à-porter, like psychedelic caftans (780), silver babouche slippers (40) and sailors’ blouses with Arabesque embroidery (320). Finally, for funky interpretations of North African housewares and fashion accessories, hit KifKif (8 Rue el Ksour, Bab-Laksour; 212-61-08-20-41; www.kifkifbystef.com).
4 p.m.
7) WANT SUN? JOIN A CLUB
No ocean in Marrakesh? No matter. You can bronze up and cool off at the local branch of Nikki Beach (Circuit de la Palmeraie, Palmeraie; 212-24-36-87-27; www.nikkibeach.com), the decadent chain of swimming-pool clubs. Like its counterparts in Miami and St.-Tropez, the Marrakesh outpost serves up throbbing house music, white canopy beds and pricey bottles of bubbly to the gaggle of self-styled jet-setters, party people, moguls and wannabes. Don your D & G shades, have a glass of Champagne (180 dirhams) and prepare for an Arabian night. Admission 150 dirhams.
8 p.m.
8) MOROCCO, ALWAYS
You might not glimpse a white-jacketed Humphrey Bogart at the Grand Café de la Poste (Boulevard El Mansour Eddahbi and Rue Imam Malik, Gueliz; 212-24-43-30-38; www.grandcafedelaposte.com), but the brass rails, brown leather banquettes, potted palms and other French colonial details are pure “Casablanca.” Built in 1925 and renovated two years ago, the restaurant serves French fare with Moroccan touches, including foie gras with fig jam (190 dirhams) and calamari grilled in local argane oil (95 dirhams). For dessert, the banana milkshake with pistachio ice cream is ambrosia in a glass (70 dirhams). Cocktails in the sultry Moorish Art Deco upstairs lounge are the perfect digestif.
11 p.m.
9) 1,001 NIGHTCLUBS
Marrakesh’s abundant night life is eye-opening. At the chic restaurant-lounge-nightclub Jad Mahal (Fontaine de la Mamounia, Hivernage; 212-24-43-69-84), well-heeled Moroccans and Europeans clink cocktail glasses in an elegant setting that blends styles from India, Asia and the Middle East. Admission 100 to 200 dirhams for the nightclub area. End the night at Pacha (L’Aguedal Hotel Zone, Boulevard Mohammed VI; 212-24-38-84-00; www.pachamarrakech.com), a branch of the storied Ibiza club. Claiming to be Africa’s largest night spot, the space houses two restaurants, a swimming pool, a plush “chillout room” and an expansive dance club that has been graced by Paul Oakenfold, David Guetta and other hall-of-fame D.J.’s. Admission 150 to 450 dirhams.
SUNDAY
10 a.m.
10) DARE TO STEAM
Two days of spirited bargaining, culinary bloating and late-night carousing takes a toll. At Les Bains de Marrakech (2 Derb Sedra, Medina; 212-24-38-14-28; www.lesbainsdemarrakech.com), the venerable Islamic hammam has been injected with casbah-cool 21st-century design touches. For 450 dirhams, you’ll be steamed to melting, lathered in black Moroccan beldi soap, exfoliated with a rough kissa glove, massaged with oil by four hands, coated in local ghassoul clay, rinsed in hot water, stuffed into a fluffy robe and served a mint tea.
Noon
11) DESIGNER FLORA
Even if you don’t know a malvaceae from a punicaceae plant, the Majorelle Gardens (212-24-30-18-52; www.jardinmajorelle.com) are the city’s loveliest strolling grounds. The cafe serves a Moroccan breakfast (orange juice, yogurt, sweet crepes, honey and jam; 100 dirhams), and the Museum of Islamic Art offers wrought Persian astrolabes, Syrian copperwork and shimmering Moroccan textiles. All were collected by the gardens’ financial patrons, the fashion legends Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé. They first fell in love with Marrakesh in the 1960s and are in many ways the forefathers of the current Marrakesh-mania.
VISITOR INFORMATION
Royal Air Maroc (www.royalairmaroc.com) offers flights from Kennedy Airport to Marrakesh with a change in Casablanca. Based on a recent online search, rates in late November started at around $950. (Research your flight carefully. Layovers in Casablanca can range from around one hour to more than 15 hours depending on the specific flight you book.) Moroccan taxis rarely use their meters. For a trip from Marrakesh Menara airport to the Medina, try to bargain down to 80 dirhams, $10 at $7.95 dirhams to the dollar. Between the Medina and the new district of Gueliz, around 15 to 20 dirhams is reasonable.
Annie Lennox, Sacha Baron Cohen and other V.I.P.’s have dropped in at the 18-room Riad El Fenn (2 Derb Moulay Abdallah Ben Hezzian; 212-24-44-12-10; www.riadelfenn.com) in the Medina. Owned by Vanessa Branson, sister of the Virgin mogul Richard Branson, the boutique hotel has five pools, a spa, a home cinema, and a bar and restaurant. Double rooms from 270 euros, $397, at $1.47 to the euro.
Just outside the bustling Medina, Hivernage Hotel and Spa ( Rue des Temples and Rue Echouhada; 212-24-42-41-00; www.hivernage-hotel.com) has a pool, a well-equipped spa and a restaurant operated by a St.-Tropez-based chef, Christophe Leroy. Doubles from 1,900 dirhams.
Farther afield, in the Bel Air-like Palmeraie district, the Palais Mehdi (Palmeraie; 212-24-30-75-77; www.palais-mehdi.com) is a sprawling, resort with a huge pool, and verdant grounds. Doubles from 250 euros.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
France squad for Morocco friendly
PARIS, Nov 8 (Reuters) - France coach Raymond Domenech on Thursday named a 24-man squad to face Morocco in a friendly on Nov. 16 and Ukraine in a Euro 2008 Group B qualifier on Nov. 21:
Goalkeepers: Sebastien Frey (Fiorentina), Mickael Landreau (Paris St Germain), Ulrich Rame (Girondins Bordeaux)
Defenders: Eric Abidal (Barcelona), Sebastien Squillaci (Olympique Lyon), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), William Gallas (Arsenal), Francois Clerc (Olympique Lyon)
Midfielders: Alou Diarra (Girondins Bordeaux), Lassana Diarra (Arsenal), Mathieu Flamini (Arsenal), Claude Makelele (Chelsea), Jerome Rothen (Paris St Germain), Jeremy Toulalan (Olympique Lyon), Samir Nasri (Olympique Marseille)
Forwards: Nicolas Anelka (Bolton Wanderers), Karim Benzema (Olympique Lyon), Sidney Govou (Olympique Lyon), Thierry Henry (Barcelona), Florent Malouda (Chelsea), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Hatem Ben Arfa (Olympique Lyon)
Arab League Supports Morocco Over Spanish Enclaves
CAIRO (AFP)--The Arab League on Thursday expressed its total support for Morocco in its diplomatic spat with Spain over two "occupied" enclaves, the pan- Arab body said in a statement.
Citing a 1975 declaration, the 22-member group of which Morocco is also a member expressed its "total support for Morocco and expressed hope that this problem can be resolved through dialogue and peaceful means."
A visit by Spain's King Juan Carlos this week to the disputed enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla prompted Rabat to recall its ambassador to Madrid.
The king also reasserted Spain's sovereignty over the two towns on Morocco's Mediterranean coast that have been held for centuries by Spain.
The Arab League said the dispute should be solved "in the framework of friendship between the two countries which will reinforce historical relations between Spain and the Arab world."
Axa's nine-month revenue rises on strength in U.K., Turkey, Morocco
Axa said Thursday that nine-month revenue was up 22%, driven by strong property and casualty results in the U.K. and emerging markets in Turkey and Morocco.
