The legendary palace « La Mamounia », which has welcomed stars from around the world since 1922 in the heart of Marrakech (south), the tourist capital of Morocco, was included on Thursday on an official list of public companies that can be privatized from 2019.
The Governing Council approved a bill concerning privatizable companies in which the large hotel appears, according to an official press release. The text must still be approved in Parliament.
Majority-owned by the National Railway Office (ONCF), La Mamounia has welcomed a number of celebrities since its opening: Winston Churchill (who devoted himself to painting there), Ronald Reagan, Jacques Chirac, Orson Welles, Nelson Mandela, Hillary Clinton, Elton John…
The famous palace, which has some 200 rooms and suites, has also been used for filming films, such as Alfred Hitchcock’s « The Man Who Knew Too Much ».
La Mamounia closed in 2006 for major renovation work and its furniture, in Art Deco, Hispano-Moorish or classic French style, was sold at auction. The luxurious hotel reopened its doors three years later.
Moroccan Minister of the Economy Mohamed Benchaâboun announced at the end of October a series of privatizations for 2019. The operation should bring in 10 billion dirhams (920 million euros), according to the specialized press.
Like La Mamounia, the Tahaddart thermal power station is on the list of privatizable companies. With an electrical power of 384 MW, this plant located near Tangier (north) is managed by a company 48% owned by the public group ONEE, 32% by the Spanish Endesa Generación and 20% by the German Siemens Project Ventures.
Since the launch of the first privatization program in 1993, 77 companies have been sold totally or partially to the private sector for a total amount of more than 103 billion dirhams (around 9.5 billion EUR)
source: la-croix.com
