53 MARTINDALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF PRIVATE ENTERPRISE usage by individuals and households. As hanouts gain access to digitized tools to better manage their businesses while maintaining their role as cultural pillars, unbanked individuals are exposed, through their normal shopping, to the everyday utility of formal financial products. Conclusion After decades of international focus on financial infrastructure and accessibility of financial services in developing countries, evidence from Morocco shows that after establishing a diverse set of formal institutions and services and national policies prioritizing financial inclusion for the unbanked, efforts should shift to fostering the meaningful use of financial services. Rather than evaluating Morocco’s financial inclusion at a flagship level based on counting bank accounts, measures of use, such as how frequently these accounts are accessed, how often they are used to actually store money, and whether people can operate these products without assistance, should be more salient. Although informality, financial education levels, and negative perceptions of formal institutions preventing financial service usage can be difficult to measure, there is high potential for products and services created within the context of these constraints to accelerate the inclusion of Moroccans. Moroccan authorities have worked to produce a regulatory ecosystem supportive of innovation of private sector financial products. Financial innovation centered around traditions of how the unbanked in Morocco manage their money and the financial or socioeconomic systems used in their daily lives is proving advantageous in bolstering inclusion when paired with the new capabilities of the digital financial landscape. References Ababou, A., & Goldemberg, D. (2018). Whose turn? Sparking formal savings through ROSCAs in Morocco. Paterson Review of International Affairs, 18, 1–38. Andersson-Manjang, S. (2021). The Mobile Money Prevalence Index (MMPI): A country-level indicator for assessing the adoption, activity and accessibility of mobile money. Global System for Mobile Communications. Bank Al-Maghrib. (2021a). Annual report on banking supervision - 2020. Bank Al-Maghrib. (2021b). The Moroccan Foundation for Financial Education (FMEF) signs three new partnership agreements. Bank Al-Maghrib. (2022). Greenback Initiative in Morocco [Press release]. Bank Al-Maghrib & Ministry of Economy and Finance. (2021). Stratégie nationale d’inclusion financière. BNP Paribas. (2017, August 17). History of microfinance: Small loans, big revolution. Briter Intelligence. (2022, September 26). B2B commerce landscape in Africa. Business Monitor International. (2022, August 23). Morocco fintech: Financial inclusion drives regulation, distrust hampers adoption. Cardarelli, R. (2022). Informality, development, and the business cycle in North Africa. International Monetary Fund. Cull, R., & Morduch, J. (2017). Microfinance and economic development (Policy Research Working Paper 8252). World Bank Group. De Vaan, T., & Delort, D. (2021). Morocco - rapport des resultats des groupes de discussions sur les transferts de fonds: Etude greenback (Report of the Results of the Discussion Groups on Remittances: Greenback Study). World Bank Group. Demirguc-Kunt, A., Klapper, L., & Singer, D. (2017). Financial inclusion and inclusive growth: A review of recent empirical evidence (Policy Research Working Paper 8040). World Bank Group. Demirgüç-Kunt, A., Klapper, L., Singer, D., & Ansar, S. (2022). The Global Findex Database 2021: Financial inclusion, digital payments, and resilience in the age of COVID-19. World Bank Group. Douiri, I. (2015, August 20). ‘I don’t want a bank account because my neighbours will think I’m rich.’ The Guardian. Eljechtimi, A. (2020, July 14). Crisis-hit Moroccans join ‘informal economy’ as job market shrinks. Reuters. Eljechtimi, A. (2023, May 30). Informal labour accounts for two-thirds of Morocco jobs, statistics agency reports. Reuters. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. (2021). The EBRD in Morocco: results snapshot, 20152021. Financial Sector Assessment Program - Kingdom of Morocco: Financial inclusion technical note. (2016). World Bank Group. International Monetary Fund. (2022). Islamic finance and the role of the IMF. Ivers, L., Niavas, S., Mitchell, C., Sqalli, Z. & Frikha, O. (2022, June 30). The future of traditional retail in Africa. Boston Consulting Group. Krieger, R. (n.d.). The evolution of microfinance. Frontline World. Lahlou, K., Doghmi, H., & Schneider, F. (2020). The size and development of the shadow economy in Morocco. Bank Al-Maghrib. Lauer, K., & Lyman, T. (2015). Digital financial inclusion: Implications for customers, regulators, supervisors, and standard-setting bodies. Consultative Group to Assist the Poor. Mohammed, N., Gatti, R., Ranzani, M., Lopez-Acevedo, G., Sinha, N. & Elsheikhi, A. (2023, June 21). Informal employment in Egypt, Morocco, & Tunisia: What can we learn to boost inclusive growth? World Bank Blogs.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTA0OTQ5OA==