#megamalls

Introduced last December, at a cost of $260 million, the opening was attended by various pop stars in addition to an elite assortment of Moroccan society. It is described as Casablanca’s first, and Africa’s largest, megamall.

The mall itself is spread over twenty hectares and is owned by the Aksal Group, which is 100% Moroccan. It is designed to be an extension of the main Casablanca waterfront promenade. The building itself is shell-shaped, and the interior contains the typical features of any modern shopping mall – stores, restaurants, an aquarium as well as the requisite ice-skating rink.

The developers envision this building as bringing Morocco closer to the rank of the developed world. Yet critics have argued that the project is inappropriate in a country with a high poverty rate. Indeed as a recent report by the Associated Press points out, the North African kingdom of 32 million is home to the largest income inequalities in the Arab world. The country has 8.5 million people living in poverty and ranks 130 out of 186 on the U.N.'s human development index. Moreover, Morocco has some of the lowest literacy and highest unemployment rates and the highest income disparity in the Middle East and North Africa, according to the Gini coefficient, a statistical tool used by economists to measure the inequality of distribution in a country.

This would indeed be a stark contrast to a mall housing Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior and Ralph Lauren boutiques and department store Galeries Lafayette.

The AP report points out the disparity that becomes visible on the drive to the mall from the city’s center, which takes about 20 minutes. Slums are hidden from view through high walls, and closer to the mall shopping centers and villas for the wealthy emerge.

[Sidi Moumen Slum. Casablanca. Source: http://www.ennaharonline.com/en/international/1995.html]

What is interesting is that the developers envisioned that Morocco Mall would turn Casablanca into a kind of Dubai in Africa, or for the western Mediterranean. This is meant to suggest that it would become a center for tourism spurred by local attractions such as shopping centers. Their very presence would generate economic activity. Yet some critics have suggested that this might not be an appropriate model for Morocco since it depends on foreign demand rather than local resources.

Considering that the mall was conceived in the mid-2000s when there was still economic optimism, things have changed quite a bit since then. Europe is undergoing economic stagnation and thus European tourists maybe less inclined to spend money in such a mall.

It is also noted that a majority of the financing is coming from the Gulf countries, offering their model of economic development to the North African region. Indeed half of the funding for Morocco Mall comes from the Saudi Al-Jedaie Group, which has built malls all over Saudi Arabia.

Yet others point out that the development would have a negative effect on the surrounding retail environment. In many countries, the opening of major shopping malls - designed so that the customer spends as long as possible in the complex - has led to the closure of nearby small businesses, which cannot compete with the lower prices which such centers can afford.

But, according to some commentators, early signs are positive, with many people living in nearby shantytowns being employed in cleaning and maintenance jobs while others have gained positions working in retail outlets. The site manager says that 100,000 people were involved in the construction and that, to date, the shopping center created 5,000 direct jobs and 21,000 indirect jobs, as reported in Magaharebiya.com.

It should also be noted that among Moroccan middle class shoppers there is a sense of pride that their country has the ability to produce such a mall. These feelings cannot be discounted or dismissed.

In fact most of the criticism, which is directed at such developments, comes from a leftist perspective. Accordingly malls are symptomatic of neo-liberal economic policies, favoring privatization and the exclusion of the poor.

There might be some truth to that, but what is of particular interest is that the allure of Dubai has not faded. It is evident in countries such as Zimbabwe who are seeking “Dubai style malls” as reported recently. And of course Morocco mall is touted as turning Casablanca into a kind of Dubai on the Mediterranean. The Dubai model, it seems, is alive and well.

Criticism notwithstanding luxurious malls can co-exist with other type of shopping – and it is here that more relevant lessons could be drawn from the Dubai model.