INTERVIEW WITH ABDELLILAH MOURID, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF SICPA MAROC

“Morocco has fully grasped what is at stake with digital”

What has Sicpa’s situation in Morocco been since the start of the health crisis?

Within the Sicpa group, we have two main types of activity: one concerning security inks and the other dedicated to product authentication and traceability. In Morocco, for the first activity we work with Dar Assikah and for the second with the Customs and Indirect Tax Administration, for the traceability of products subject to the Domestic Consumption Tax. In this case, our activity follows that of our customers. For example, where nectars, tobacco, water and spirits are concerned, if they do not sell, we do not sell either. We were therefore heavily affected until the end of the lockdown; activity has gradually picked up since then. But for everything relating to small volumes linked to the activity of cafés, restaurants and building sites, the decline is considerable, because these are products that are consumed when people are in groups and feeling optimistic. Despite this, we have been able to keep our entire workforce, at head office, at the Coding centre and at the various sites where our teams operate.

How do you reconcile continuing work with the safety of your employees?

Whether at our Coding Centre, at the various production sites or at Head Office, we have put in place various measures following the guidelines of the Ministry and the CGEM. For all our employees whose work allows it, remote working has been the rule. For all the others, masks as well as sanitising gels have been distributed, and the process continues on a regular basis. We have also tested our entire workforce, wherever they work.

Well before the pandemic, the group was using secure video-conferencing tools. We therefore organised a large meeting to raise awareness among, but also to reassure, all our teams, particularly those who were going on site. Along the same lines, we also set up two teams within the Coding centre to reduce the number of people on site and create a more reassuring environment.

In your view, what is the positive aspect of this crisis?

I was particularly struck by the drive and readiness of companies to help the country do what was needed to cope with the pandemic: I am referring here to medical ventilators, masks, etc. This shows us that, economically, we can surpass ourselves when there is a catalyst. The other positive point I observe is that Morocco has fully grasped what is at stake with digital. Within Sicpa, this allows us to be optimistic, because we offer solutions to secure digital. We have in fact adapted one of our products to produce health passports, which are of interest to states but also to organisations such as sports federations, and which make it possible to guarantee the authentication of certifications.