Maroc Telecom appoints Benchaaboun new chair

Maroc Telecom, a Moroccan company with branches across Africa, announced the appointment of Mohamed Benchaaboun as new chair, succeeding Abdeslam Ahizoune who has led the company since 1999.

The decision was taken by Maroc Telecom’s Supervisory Board which offered Benchaaboun a two-year term, while thanking Ahizoune for spearheading its expansion in Africa.

Besides Morocco, the company operates branches in Benin, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Togo.

The replacement of Ahizoune takes place against the backdrop of heavy fines suffered by the telecom operator. In July, a commercial court in Casablanca upheld a first instance verdict that found Maroc Telecom guilty of violating free competition rules and abusing its dominant position in the market.

The court ordered Maroc Telecom to pay a compensation worth 6.4 billion dollars to Inwi.

The fine prompted soaring company debt to 23 billion dirhams, up 32.1% as a result of the compensation it was asked to pay to its competitor Wana for violating fair competition rules.

In 2020, Maroc Telecom was found guilty of practicing anti-competitive practices since 2013, the regulator ANRT said, imposing a fine of 3.3 billion dirhams on the operator.

Maroc Telecom was fined for refusing to share unbundling on its network with other competitors in order to maintain monopoly of fixed broadband.