A Moroccan Court of Appeal upheld a ruling requiring Maroc Telecom to pay compensation amounting to 6.3 billion dirhams, or about 630 million dollars, to its competitor, ‘Inwi’, due to unfair monopolistic practices.
‘Inwi’, the third largest telecommunications operator in the Kingdom, filed the case in 2021, accusing Maroc Telecom of abusing its dominant position in the market.
The fine exceeds Maroc Telecom’s 2023 profits, which amounted to 6.1 billion dirhams, indicating the significant impact of the ruling on the company’s financial performance.
In 2020, the Moroccan Telecommunications Regulatory Authority imposed a fine of 3.3 billion dirhams on Maroc Telecom for abusing its dominant position in the market by obstructing competitors’ access to the fixed-line telephone market.
The Moroccan state owns 22 percent of Maroc Telecom shares, listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange and Euronext Paris.
Maroc Telecom operates branches in Benin, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Togo, making the impact of this ruling extend to its regional operations.
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