Individual Corruption

In Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer 2010, more than a quarter of the surveyed households report having paid a bribe in relation to their dealings with the education system over the past year. Also, citizens sometimes report either offering or being required to pay a bribe in connection with obtaining licences and permits.

Business Corruption

Dealing with licences in Morocco is cumbersome and time consuming. However, the process of starting a company is still relatively easy. Figures from the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011 indicate that Morocco has a substantial competitive advantage in the region with regards to the time and number of procedures required to start a company.

On the other hand, observers note that permits are slow to be issued and that obtaining local government permits often requires the payment of bribes. Moreover, according to Global Integrity 2008, the issuing of a number of licences and permits is subject to preferential treatment and may include bribery. These include the right to have a taxi in the urban and inter-urban areas, transportation amenities, offshore and fishing rights, alcohol licences, and the use of natural sand among others. According to the Transparency International Global Corruption Report 2009, due to extensive bureaucracy surrounding the building and construction sector, the procedure for obtaining a building permit is so long that project managers often resort to corrupt practices in order to speed up the process.

Another area for corrupt practices is the business inspections conducted by government officials. Thus, Global Integrity 2008 reports that, in practice, business inspections by government officials to ensure public health and safety standards are usually carried out in an arbitrary and ad-hoc manner, and bribes are often paid by companies in return for favourable treatment or expedited processing.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2011:
- 6 procedures are required to start a company, taking an average of 12 days and costing 15.8% of the income per capita.

- To construct a warehouse, a company is required to go through 19 procedures, taking 163 days and costing 251.5% of the income per capita.

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011:
- Business executives give government regulations (permits, regulations, reporting) in Morocco a score of 3.4 on a 7-point scale (1 'extremely burdensome' and 7 'not burdensome at all').

Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2010:
- 26% of households who had contact with education system in 2009 report having paid a bribe.

- 2.8% of households who had contact with registry and permit services in 2009 report having paid a bribe.

- No households who had to obtain utilities or medical services in 2009 report having paid a bribe.

Transparency International: Bribe Payers Index 2008:
- Business executives give the level of corruption in the registry and permit services a score of 3.1 on a 5 point scale (1 being 'not at all corrupt' and 5 'extremely corrupt').

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2007:
- Of the companies surveyed none expect to give gifts in order to get an operating licence, while the number is 20% for getting an import licence and 15.3% for getting a construction permit.

- Only 9.3% of the companies surveyed perceive business licensing and permits as major constraints to doing business in Morocco.

- The percentage of companies that expect to give gifts to obtain utility connections is quite low compared to regional standards, with 4% expecting to give gifts to obtain a phone connection, while the numbers for obtaining an electricity connection and a water connection are 5% and 4.2% respectively.