Marrakech- The young Zuhair is concerned with opening his small store in a popular neighborhood in Marrakesh in the morning, so he is received by an urgent customer who requests a box of milk and a loaf of bread, and he is asked to register the amount in the debt notebook.
This opportunity for Zuhair to browse this worn notebook of frequent use, to discover that the accumulated debt size has exceeded the usual, and strikes enough.
Zuhair does not find it seemed to continue to deal with the debt, as it is a way to preserve his customers, as he says to Al -Jazeera Net, but he expresses regret to postpone some customers to pay despite their ability to pay immediately, which hinders his commercial activity and slows down his capital.
He adds to his recent complaint about the spread of intermediate commercial spaces of a foreign company, which raises his concern and the rest of the groceries in the neighborhood of the growth of this phenomenon and its negative impact on their trade.
Its anxiety increases the low profit margin in many basic materials, such as tea, sugar, oil, cleaning materials and bottled water, and it is related to the gas cylinders that have increased the price recently, which require special care and acquires more area than other consumables.
The small grocery dealer in Morocco is called the “Mall of the Human”, which is considered one of the basic engines for the proximity trade, in addition to his observed social role.
Grocery owners concern
What worries the grocery trade finds this resonance with professionals and officials, as his voice has reached the dome of the House Providing tax facilities, vocational training and qualification, keeping pace with developments in the labor market and technology.
The writer of the state to the Minister of Industry and Trade in charge of Foreign Trade, Omar Ahjira, says that the grocery is a basic pillar in the proximity trade system in Morocco, and that the Moroccan government takes into account the challenges facing professionals.
However, the head of the Moroccan Federation for Traders and Vocationalists, Issa Ashout, is demanding in an interview with Al -Jazeera Net to fill the legal void to organize the spread of major shops, which allows reasonable competition and preserves the rights of the small merchant and the continuation of his work as an authentic historical heritage and effective economic activity within Moroccan society, expressing sorry for the government to impose Complex legal procedures for the small merchant to obtain a profession license unlike his competitors.
A big contribution
Official figures indicate that the profession of “Mall of the Human” is contributing 58% of the number of internal trade transactions and employing about 36% of workers in the commercial sector, as the state clerk confirms during his passing in the House of Representatives in the January 20 session.
The government official adds that the grocery is employing 600,000 workers in the proximity trade sector, which constitutes 80% of the total sale points, indicating that 90% of the shop owners are restricting loans without interest.
Commenting on these numbers, economist Mohamed Shulri, commenting on these numbers, says that this group of professionals has its position within the Moroccan economic fabric, which calls for greater attention to organizing and modernizing its services in light of competition by commercial spaces of various sizes.
Shulteri adds to Al -Jazeera Net that the “Hanut Mall” has many advantages as it represents the most embodiment of the flexible proximity trade in work times, effectiveness and diversification in services, which allows them to continue to stay in the labor market for the coming years.
In turn, Ashot indicates that the roles played by the small merchant in the Moroccan economic fabric – in addition to his tax contribution to the general budget – must be met with more government interest.
Electronic applications
On the other hand of the same neighborhood, a young man named Abdel -Hayy tries to organize his trade by providing the possibility of his customers to roam between the shelves and choose their goods themselves, before they performed the price through a small computer.
Abdel -Hayy tells Al -Jazeera Net that he worked to develop an electronic application that allows registration of sales and see the state of stocks of goods, refusing to deal with the debt.
Abdel -Hayy is known for selling commodities at a specific price that is not negotiable, but this young merchant is a graduate of the College of Economic Sciences completely convinced that keeping pace with the times is the way to develop his trade, gain the confidence of more customers, and compete with commercial spaces.
He shows interest while listening to the state writer’s speech during his response to parliamentary questions, which indicates that the government provides practical proposals that facilitate the entry of young merchants into the digital field.
State writer Omar Ahjira notes that the government supported 156 small merchants to encourage them to use digital solutions, and also enabled 4,500 merchants online to establish 200 delivery points to keep pace with technology developments.
Governmental procedure
The Secretary of State called for encouraging professionals to use the electronic payment device, but Abdel -Hayy states that the price of this machine is approximately 3 thousand dirhams (300 dollars), in addition to that its use needs the availability of the merchant at the expense of a bank, which increases its expenses, and since it deals with His customers daily with simple amounts – most of whom have no bank cards – this does not have a great benefit.
These governmental measures remain – according to the union – insufficient if it does not become effective and comprehensive, in order for the small merchant to touch its real impact on the ground, and make it accompany the digital and technological development to ensure the modernization of the sector in a manner that is appropriate to the national and international market requirements, and stresses the need to involve the small merchant in Economic growth course to write a new story.
Economist Mohamed Shulteri agrees with the necessity of keeping pace with small traders technological developments, calling on the government to facilitate electronic payment procedures and access to commercial real estate.
Shalri added that the professional bloc contributes to creating an added value, and it can help negotiate with suppliers to raise the profit margin, and thus keep competition.
