A diversified group of subsidiaries with interests across a variety of sectors and international partnerships

A prime catch: Somed subsidiary UMEP exports seafood to the lucrative European and Japanese markets.

s the Moroccan economy becomes ever-more liberalized and foreign direct investment flows into various sectors, Somed has a duty not only to be at the forefront of all developments within Moroccan industry, but also to ensure that investments result in job and wealth creation in society.

“We have a strategy, and we have chosen sectors that seemed promising to us,” expands Mouatassim Belghazi, Chairman and CEO of Somed. “There is a globally shared vision among the investors and the operators. Our interventions are not carried out in a disparate way but within the framework of a national plan.”

Of crucial importance to the ongoing expansion of Somed’s interests, and the ancillary benefits to the Moroccan people, are the partnerships that the group forge with international companies. In the field of metallurgy, for example, Somed exports some 95 percent of its production to European markets through its subsidiary SFPZ.
A partnership with Portuguese company Sovena, a leading producer of olive oil, has born fruit in the form of Soprolives, a Somed subsidiary that farms 1,000 hectares of olive groves near Marrakech.

Meanwhile in the fisheries industry, where Somed has been operating since 1989, the group’s subsidiary Union Maroc Emirats Arabes Unis de Pêche (UMEP) operates a fleet of trawlers and focuses on the lucative trade in cephalopods to the Japanese and European markets, the final destination of 98 percent of Umep’s catch.

“We have been present in the fisheries sector for 20 years now and we continue to reinforce the industry. Together with our partners we are about to launch new projects in the agrobusiness and fisheries areas, in order to obtain processed products and fishery products with high added value,” continues Mr. Belghazi. “We are in a phase of new projects in the medium term.”

“In metallurgy and trade we are present on two axes,” he adds. “In 2006 we created our real estate arm. We realized that Somed had a role to play in this field and we launched great projects in several Moroccan cities. Some of these projects are carried out in partnership with Addoha, a well-known Moroccan realty development company. Others are managed directly by our real estate subsidiary companies. We believe that the presence of Somed in this sector is essential.”