Rabat: The First President of the Court of Accounts, Zineb El Adaoui, stated on Tuesday that four main conditions have been identified to ensure the successful upgrading of territorial areas and the reduction of spatial and social disparities, in alignment with the High Guidelines of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.
According to Agence Marocaine De Presse, El Adaoui presented the activity report of the financial jurisdictions in their judicial capacity before both Houses of the Moroccan Parliament. She emphasized that the quality of the design of integrated development programs is crucial for their impact on citizens and territories. This involves establishing a precise territorial and sectoral diagnosis, based on an updated and integrated territorial information system, defining measurable objectives, and ensuring stakeholder participation.
El Adaoui further elaborated that the Court of Accounts recommends considering each territory’s specific assets, administrative subdivisions, and sociological and cultural particularities when designing integrated development programs. She highlighted the importance of addressing the specificities of rural and mountain areas by adopting innovative solutions such as mobile schooling, telemedicine services, and specialized medical caravans.
She also stressed the need for realism in program design to avoid announcing non-feasible projects, ensuring that objectives are achievable within reasonable timeframes and financial capacities. She cited the implementation rate of projects included in the program contracts between the State and regions for 2020-2022, which was only 9%, as an example of the challenges faced.
El Adaoui underscored the necessity for a more integrated approach in territorial development programs, highlighting the importance of upstream coordination among stakeholders and linking funding to results to accelerate implementation and enhance public financing impact.
She identified weak prior coordination, technical study delays, land mobilization issues, and disparities in management capacities as key factors hindering the achievement of program objectives. Neglecting the operation and maintenance of completed infrastructure has also undermined expected outcomes, with a thematic mission revealing operational difficulties in nearly 48% of 2,635 stalled projects.
On the social front, El Adaoui noted that the Court of Accounts has monitored the implementation of the Royal project on social protection, with an audit mission on Mandatory Health Insurance (AMO) included in the Court’s 2024 program. Despite a significant increase in AMO registrations, effective beneficiary coverage remained around 70%.
El Adaoui pointed out financial imbalances in AMO schemes due to ineffective cost-containment mechanisms, with expenditures rising by 83% between 2022 and 2024, and resources increasing by only 36%. She highlighted the continuous deficit in the public-sector employees’ scheme and the inadequate surplus in the insurance scheme for professionals and self-employed workers.
The “AMO Tadamon” scheme faced a sharp rise in the expenditure-to-contribution ratio, threatening its medium-term viability. In response, the Court of Accounts recommended updating the social protection system, enhancing beneficiary-targeting mechanisms, and developing a specific financial management framework for the AMO scheme.
Additionally, the Court advised accelerating the development and upgrading of public hospital facilities to improve healthcare supply and quality in the public sector, which accounted for only 9% of AMO expenditures in 2024 compared to 91% for the private sector.