Maroc Telecom pays $630 mln in damages to Inwi

Telecom operator, Maroc Telecom, has paid 6.3 billion dirhams ($630 mln) in damages to its competitor Inwi after it was indicted by a court for anti-competitive practices.

The fine represents 17% of the firm’s turnover and exceeds the 6.1 billion dirhams it made in profit last year.

Fingers are pointing to Maroc Telecom’s CEO Abdesslam Ahizoun who failed to comply with anti-competitive rules.

The sanction makes Maroc Telecom shares an investment on the medium and longer terms, as the company could withhold sharing this year’s dividends, according to observers.

The company plans to distribute 2023 dividends worth 3.7 billion dirhams. Some market experts expect the company to resort to debt to pay both dividends and the compensation to Inwi.

In 2020, Maroc Telecom was found guilty of practicing anti-competitive practices since 2013, the regulator ARNT 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.

Maroc telecom posted a profit of 6.19 billion dirhams in 2023. The company is listed both on Casablanca and Euronext and operates in Morocco, Benin, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Togo.