Rabat – Maroc Telecom, Morocco’s leading telecommunications operator, has paid MAD 6.4 billion ($640 million) in damages to rival Wana Corporate (Inwi) following a court ruling over unfair competition practices.
Although the company initially planned to appeal the decision to Morocco’s Court of Cassation, it opted to proceed with the payment. The settlement, completed within 10 days in July, helped Maroc Telecom avoid a forced collection procedure that could have severely impacted its reputation, according to Le360.
This penalty, the largest ever imposed on a Moroccan telecom operator, accounts for 17% of Maroc Telecom’s 2023 revenue and surpasses its MAD 6.1 billion ($610 million) profit from the previous year. The company had already provisioned the amount in its financial report as of June 2024.
The Casablanca Commercial Court of Appeal upheld the initial ruling in July, affirming that Maroc Telecom must compensate Inwi for market monopoly and unfair competition. This case dates back to December 2021, when Inwi initially sought MAD 6.8 billion ($680 million) in damages.
This is not the first time Maroc Telecom has faced financial penalties for anti-competitive behavior. In January 2020, the company was fined MAD 3.3 billion ($330 million) following a complaint from Inwi to the National Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ANRT), which found Maroc Telecom had obstructed competitors’ access to the fixed-line market.
