Morocco's FOGARIM fund benefits aspiring homeowners

10/09/2008

Four years after its inception, the FOGARIM fund has enabled more than 200,000 Moroccans with limited incomes to buy their dream houses.

By Imane Belhaj for Magharebia in Casablanca 09-04-2008

[File] The FOGARIM programme has helped more than 200,000 low-income Moroccans purchase homes.

Morocco's housing-assistance fund FOGARIM recorded a 15% increase in the loans given since last year, the Ministry of Housing, Reconstruction and Urban Development said in statement issued last month. In just a few years, the programme has improved living standards for more than 200,000 Moroccans with limited incomes.

"The dynamics and enthusiasm of this fund are the fruit of efforts made by the Government for developing this financing program [along with] unprecedented efforts made by banks, which have taken an active role in that program," the ministry said.

FOGARIM was founded in 2004 as one of the government's efforts to help citizens own better houses. Contractors can also benefit from the fund to build low-cost housing units and sell them for low prices. As of August, FOGARIM has provided more than 40,000 loans and guarantees to beneficiaries.

The loans benefited poor areas such as the shanty towns in the city of Témara. Residents there, usually families of 6 or more, lived in tint huts. Under FOGARIM, many were able to afford low-priced housing units.

"Thanks to this fund, I was able to receive a loan to purchase a house and save face," said Mohammed E., a street merchant. Mohammed said that without the fund he couldn’t afford to buy a house.

"I managed to provide my family with a decent house instead of living in a one-room house made of tin and without any means of convenience," he told Magharebia.

Hannia S., a vegetables seller and a widow, said that the "fund helped me make my dream in owning a comfortable house come true, away from chaos and garbage which we were living next to. I was able to obtain a bank loan with a low interest rate".

Banks like Credit Immobilier et Hotelier (CIH), Crédit Populaire du Maroc, Moroccan External Trade Bank (BMCE) and Wafa Real Estate have provided more than 97% of the loans that were given through the program.

According to statistics, FOGARIM fund beneficiaries include traders (41%), street merchants (23%), traditional manufacturers (16%), taxi drivers (4.2%), housemaids (3.7%), and artisans (3.3%)

Hend J, who works in a bakery, and her fiancé, a driver, applied and got 160,000 dirhams "which is the amount we need to buy my dream house," she said. Now, she says, they don’t have to postpone the wedding anymore.

"FOGARIM provided solutions for many people who were not able to receive loans from banks," said Said E., a university student. "It also provided guarantees for banks that loan to people, which positively affected financing companies that build low-price housing."