Implemented in 2015, by virtue of law No. 114-13, the self-employed status is a recognised legal status granted for any sole trader with a commercial, industrial, craft or service activity, and allows them to benefit from fiscal and social benefits favourable to the development of business, through the following measures:

• The simplification of creation and termination procedures;
• The exemption from registration with the Register of Commerce and account maintenance;
• Exemption from VAT;
• Reduced taxation; 1% of the sales turnover for industrial, commercial and craft activities and 2% for service delivery activities (it is worth mentioning that reporting turnover at Barid Al Maghrib agencies has been mandatory since April 2017);
• The possibility of issuing bills;
• The possibility of working from one’s residence;
• The protection from seizure of the main residence;
• A specific medical and social coverage.

Addressing a potential population estimated at about 4.2 million people, this status aims to specifically target 1.9 million active people in the informal sector including 1.4 million self-employed workers in addition to one million unemployed people. The status is also aimed at the 1.2 million students of which two thirds are respectively enrolled in higher education and vocational training, not to mention the apprentice category, which includes over 50,000 individuals.

As of 26th October 2017, over 65,000 requests for registration in the national register of the self-employed were filed, 54,000 of which resulted in an official registration.

43% of the self-employed work in the commercial sector, 34% in the service sector, 17% in industry and 6% in craftwork. 34% of registered self-employed are women and nearly half of them work from home.

To support this major project, several actions have been deployed in collaboration with national and local partners:

• Completion of more than 326 awareness raising activities with local partners in different parts of the Kingdom;
• Coaching of 21,014 potential self-employed participants;
• Mobilisation of 69 partners / aggregators at regional and national levels;
• Training of 355 self-employed advisors (20 workshops);
• Awareness raising sessions for 9 regional councils to encourage them to integrate the self-employed in the construction dynamics for their entrepreneurial ecosystem;
• Mobilization of banks to develop dedicated support offers (financial inclusion).