Derivatives trading is key
Fifa bid lifts trading volumes
Part of capital market reforms
Morocco’s stock exchange is set to introduce derivatives trading to reclaim its emerging market status after a 12-year wait.
Centrally cleared instruments, including interest rate and single stock futures, will attract a deeper pool of investors, Bloomberg reported quoting Casablanca Exchange CEO Tarik Senhaji.
He said the move will help local companies raise funding quickly and access a broader investor base.
Trading volumes on the local exchange have doubled over the past year. After Vietnam, the country holds the second-highest weighting in the MSCI frontier market index.
The benchmark stock index has risen about 13 percent since Fifa announced in October 2023 that Morocco will co-host the World Cup with Spain and Portugal.
Total market cap rose to $95.5 billion as of March 2025 from $64.6 billion at the end of 2023, Bloomberg said.
Capital market reforms began in 2021 as part of a 15-year economic plan launched by King Mohammed VI to double GDP per capita.
The return to emerging-market status may trigger significant investment inflows, the report added.
