SGS is ending the first half of the year on a high note. Indeed, the Swiss multinational group has just recorded double-digit growth in its turnover. A positive result explained in particular by the strengthening of its activities in the agriculture and food segment, as well as in consumer goods and minerals.
Two major acquisitions
Last January, SGS completed its second capital transaction by acquiring Laboratoire Centre Atlantique (LCA), which specialises in analysis services, in particular for soil fertility, water management and pesticide residues. The acquisition of this laboratory, previously owned by the French Farmers’ Association and operating in the Kingdom for some fifteen years, thus allows SGS to complete its offering in the attractive national agriculture market. Another major acquisition for the Group is LAAGRIMA, a laboratory offering analyses for the food and tourism markets in Morocco. SGS’s ambition with this acquisition is to develop the existing network in order to cover every part of the value chain, from farm to fork.
A broad scope of action
Operating in several business sectors, SGS provides tailored solutions to help reduce risks, streamline processes and improve the sustainability of its clients’ operations. The control and inspection of imports and exports of agri-food products represent the core business of SGS Maroc. It was in the 1970s that SGS Maroc launched these inspection services to support the Kingdom’s mining development. Always attentive to the market and its clients, in the 1980s SGS Maroc focused on the inspection of petroleum products in collaboration with Morocco’s largest refinery, SAMIR. With a view to diversifying its activities and best meeting demand, in 2000 SGS decided to embark on an ISO 9001 certification process. In 2007, following an international call for tenders, a new entity was created: SGS AMAN’AUTO. SGS Maroc then developed its network of vehicle inspection centres throughout Morocco. From 2012, the laboratory business grew strongly, thanks to the SGS group’s international expertise and its cutting-edge technologies. This led to the opening of the group’s first petroleum laboratory at the port of Tanger MED and of the largest laboratory in Africa for the physico-chemical analysis of textiles and leather, in Casablanca, in 2012.
Morocco, the gateway to African ambitions
From Morocco, SGS inspects goods destined for countries under contract with the group. On the African continent, SGS Maroc inspects products exported to Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and many other countries. The strategic vision of the SGS group’s subsidiary is to position Morocco as an analysis hub on the continent, drawing on the parent company’s presence in 42 countries in Africa. Morocco’s geostrategic positioning as an African hub is a concrete example of Moroccan dynamism.
Three questions for:
Mehdi Benzaari, Managing Director of SGS Maroc
A word about the CCSM?
The Swiss Chamber of Commerce, which today brings together more than a hundred members from various business sectors, has as its missions the development of business opportunities and the promotion of trade between Switzerland and Morocco. In this respect, it supports Swiss investors who wish to set up in Morocco and assists member companies through a wide choice of services tailored to their needs.
Every year, the CCSM also organises several events: workshops, round tables, conference-debates, seminars and business trips, to create opportunities for business and for exchanges with experts and leading figures from the economic landscape on a variety of topics.
We are at the end of the first half of the year. What is your assessment?
It is a positive assessment. SGS Maroc increased both its turnover and its profit during the first six months of this year. We are seeing strong growth in SGS Maroc’s various business sectors. The two latest investments, namely the successive acquisitions of LCA and LAAGRIMA, as well as those to come, will certainly help to consolidate our leading position.
What do you think of the economic relations between Switzerland and Morocco?
Moroccan companies are modernising, adapting to new environmental developments and increasingly meeting international norms and standards. These adaptation efforts are attracting the interest of Switzerland, which is following very closely the commitment of Moroccan economic operators to the development of Africa and its competitive integration into a globalised economy. Morocco’s development strategies are, on the whole, favourable to the development of bilateral economic relations between Morocco and Switzerland. It is up to the Swiss and Moroccan private sectors to identify the new trade opportunities that arise. Tourism, education, vocational training, the environment and renewable energies are all promising areas that can be exploited.