MOROCCO – Tamwilcom, a state-owned company that specializes in project financing, has launched Fin-Crea, a digital platform designed to further facilitate access to bank financing for very small enterprises (VSEs).

The platform aims to help founders or owners of newly created very small enterprises (VSEs) chances of obtaining the bank financing they need to start their activities.

It has been launched in a pilot version in the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region in northern Morocco, before seeing its scope expanded in a second phase nationwide.

The platform is dedicated to linking project owners with banks and it has been validated and backed by partner banks.

This fully digital platform targets VSEs that was established less than one year and have never received bank financing before.

Eligible VSEs are eligible for an investment loan of up to MAD 2 million (US$213,292), noted Tamwilcom’s statement.

The platform enables an interested owner of an eligible project to describe his or her business plan online and submit a set of details about his or her profile and project.

Using the platform eases the project owner’s contact with preferred financial partners while at the same time enabling bankers to have a prospecting database of qualified projects in addition to functional tools to help them in their decisions.

The double objective makes Fin-Crea a new lever in the development of the financial inclusions of VSEs in Morocco.

The platform also aims to contribute to the acceleration of the achievement of the objectives of Morocco’s Integrated Program of Support and Financing of Entrepreneurship (INTELAKA) as well as those of the National Strategy of Financial Inclusion.

Morocco’s fintech lags behind other African countries

Meanwhile, Morocco’s fintech start-ups recorded only US$29 million in 2021 compared to other countries that exceeded the US$100 million mark.

Due to the hostile intra-regional trade culture, it’s difficult for start-ups to project growth in terms of expansion across the Maghreb.

For instance, Chari had to start another company in Tunisia with new paperwork, hire a new general manager and local team, and basically duplicate the company.

This culture makes it hard for investors to back a venture that operates in a broken market.

Additionally, big local companies mistrust start-ups, mostly because of how easy it is for start-ups to shut down in the region.

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