Morocco’s Al Barik Bank and global leader in digital payments Visa have joined forces to promote financial inclusion among women, artisans, entrepreneurs, and cooperatives in Morocco.
The two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Friday with the aim of supporting the above-mentioned communities by offering them training to help their integration into the financial and banking ecosystem.
The MoU was signed by the Chairman of Al Barid Bank’s Board of Directors Al-Amine Nejjar and Senior Vice President of Visa’s North Africa, Levant, and Pakistan (NAPL) region, Leila Serhan.
Under the MoU, Visa and Al Barid Bank will organize training courses throughout the year for the benefit of the targeted communities. The courses will focus on artisans and small traditional businesses, notably those run by women, young entrepreneurs, and self-employed people.
Commenting on the partnership, Nejjar said that Al Barid Bank is “pleased to partner with Visa to contribute to local economic development for the benefit of target populations.”
For her part, Serhan indicated that Visa is delighted to collaborate with the Moroccan bank to help local entrepreneurs and artisans develop their skills and acquire innovative digital tools to strengthen their businesses.
She highlighted Visa’s main goal, which is to help everyone, everywhere pay and get paid in the best way possible. In order to achieve this, “Visa is committed to supporting Morocco’s efforts to accelerate financial inclusion across all segments,” Serhan stressed.
The two parties will launch a joint action plan to achieve the goals of the partnership. This is set to include training, coaching, and awareness-raising initiatives on financial practices and tools necessary to ensure the development and sustainability of projects.
The recently signed MoU is not Visa and Al Barid Bank’s first partnership. During the previous edition of the Global Money Week, which took place between March 20 and 26, the two parties organized three training sessions in the Moroccan cities of Casablanca, Fez, and Safi to promote financial inclusion among local artisans.
