INTERVIEW WITH FRANÇOIS MARCHAL, CEO AND MEMBER OF THE MANAGEMENT BOARD OF SOCIETE GENERALE MOROCCO
Banks: François Marchal, Managing Director and member of the Management Board of Societe Generale Morocco, discusses the opportunities and challenges of economic competitiveness, the construction of a sustainable economy, with low carbon emissions. It is also about the central role to be played by banks and investors to support all players in order to converge towards the decarbonization trajectories set by the Paris agreements and COP 26.
ALM: Société Générale is a global financial player. What opportunity does decarbonization offer for the industry sector, particularly in Morocco?
Francois Marchal: It presents several opportunities and is above all an issue of economic competitiveness, while addressing the imperatives of building a sustainable economy, with low carbon emissions and resilient to climate change.
Meeting the challenges of decarbonization and sustainable growth requires investing in production optimization systems with a positive environmental impact, mainly by saving energy, water or any other material, but also by a transition to renewable energy. These investments, which are opportunities to control costs in the medium term, also facilitate the ability of Moroccan industrial companies to access major world markets, while strengthening their ability to meet the environmental requirements of these markets, which are increasingly draconian.
In terms of decarbonization and green financing, the Societe Generale Group has initiated a proactive and responsible strategy, consisting of supporting its customers in their energy transition while gradually reducing its activities related to the most carbon-intensive energies, with a commitment to support 300 billion euros of investment in the energy transition through its various offers (loans, bond issues, fundraising advice, etc.).
How can the financial and banking communities support this new industrial march towards cleaner, carbon-free production?
Banks and investors have a central role to play in supporting all players in order to converge towards the decarbonization trajectories set by the Paris agreements and COP 26. This is a citizen issue, which also meets the need to align our interests with those of our clients in the spirit of partnership that prevails when financing investments over periods that can exceed 10 years or when investing in the instruments of an issuer.
The ability of our customers to deal with climate risks and respond to decarbonization trajectories is essential in maintaining their performance over time. And the responsibility of the banking and financial sector is to promote the orientation of savings towards players who take these environmental factors into account.
Can decarbonization become a catalyst for the development of green finance in Morocco?
That is certain. The proof of this is the success of the Green Value Chain system, which Societe Generale Morocco was the first to introduce in the Kingdom in partnership with the EBRD. This system has played a real role as an investment catalyst, allowing national SMEs to join global value chains thanks to financing and technical support that allows precise framing of projects.
Have the banks, in particular Société Générale, already anticipated this new way of producing based on decarbonization?
Societe Generale Morocco is the pioneer in the sector in terms of green financing, being, as I mentioned, the first bank to implement the Green Value Chain system in the Kingdom, in partnership with the EBRD.
Overall, our ambition is to be a leader by aligning our portfolios with decarbonization trajectories while offering our customers financing solutions capable of accelerating their energy transition or developing carbon-free systems. Our second objective is to promote responsible investment to ensure the sustainability of our clients’ performance.
As such, Societe Generale Morocco makes responsible finance a cross-cutting and unifying objective by integrating environmental and social risks at the heart of analysis and support operations for our clients, for a better understanding of potential impacts.
Sogecapital Gestion is also the first management company in Morocco to have signed the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI).
What future for the finance sector in a world increasingly concerned with clean and decarbonized production?
This transition requires the support of economic players and represents considerable investment needs. In a world where everything is accelerating, it is an incentive to reposition oneself over the long term. Within Societe Generale Morocco, our strategy fully integrates this issue, both in the operations that we set up with our clients and in the upgrading of our teams’ skills and the reduction of the footprint of our own activity.
