Israel’s I.M.S Ovadia Group Ltd to invest $500 million in Moroccan health sector

Morocco’s health ministry and Israel’s IMS Ovadia Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding to build 5 hospitals in the country for a total cost of 5 billion dirhams ($500 mln).

The deal is part of Morocco’s efforts to improve health services and bridge the gap in bed capacity between regions.

The five new hospitals will be built in Fes, Meknes, Draa Tafilalet, Oriental, Marakech Safi and in the Moroccan Sahara region of Dakhla.

In a speech in July 2020 on occasion of Throne Day, King Mohammed VI urged the government to expand social welfare protection to cover all Moroccans within five years, saying the move will help integrate informal production units.

Morocco has already started opening up health insurance to professional categories that had none so far.

It also adopted a law that levels the playing field between national and foreign doctors in the private sector in a bid to foster human resources of the medical sectors.

The law is part of the implementation of the King’s initiative to revamp the health sector which suffers from a shortage of staff.

The same law seeks to encourage foreign investments in the health sector and promote its equipment with latest technologies.

Health sector reform is a major concern for Moroccan policy makers. The recent report on the new human development targets achieving WHO standards in terms of health services and staff by 2035.