Morocco construction firm eyes public listing amid World Cup boost
Morocco’s major construction and public works firm, SGTM, is planning on listing shares on the Casablanca Stock Exchange to provide financial aid for the growing pipeline of major construction projects in the country, according to a Bloomberg report on November 7th.
Morocco, along with Spain and Portugal, is set to host the FIFA World Cup 2030, and SGTM is playing a crucial role in preparations for the tournament.
SGTM is responsible for the construction of Hassan II Stadium near Casablanca, expected to accommodate around 115,000 spectators and become one of the largest stadiums in the world.
In September, the company completed the renovation of the Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.
Hamza Kabbaj, Director General of SGTM, said, “A listing may open new doors and facilitate our strategy to bring in innovative financing solutions, while significantly scaling the size of the funding we can access.”
Additionally, the company intends to issue project bonds and generate money through private debt markets to support its expansion.
“The 2030 World Cup is an accelerator of the infrastructure development in the country,” he added.
According to a research paper from AGR, the research unit of Attijariwafa Bank, Morocco is anticipated to receive around MAD 1.4 trillion ($140 billion) in investment by 2030, in various sectors such as rail links, ports, desalination plants, energy projects and sports infrastructure.
Chinese manufacturing giant Boway announced plans to invest MAD 1.5 billion ($150 million) to build a new production facility in Nador port, in north-east Morocco.
Morocco also aims to become a digital hub by 2030, as operators have officially launched 5G in the country.
The strong pipeline of projects is expected to boost SGTM’s earnings to about MAD 14 billion ($1.4 billion) in 2025, resembling the growth noted in the past two years, where revenue jumped to roughly MAD 11 billion ($1.1 billion) in 2024 from MAD 8.5 billion ($850 million) in 2023.
Kabbaj revealed that projects related to the 2030 World Cup alone are accelerating the company’s business by about 15%.
However, he also noted that this rapid expansion will come with its own set of challenges, such as a lack of skilled workers and surging material costs.
Apart from Morocco, SGTM is eyeing new projects in Saudi Arabia, which will host the FIFA World Cup 2034.
Bloomberg, Maghrebi.org
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