H.E. Moulay Hafid Elalamy

His Excellency Moulay Hafid Elalamy (also known as MHE) is a moroccan business man and philanthropist, born on 13 January 1960 in Marrakech.

In 1995, he founded the Saham Group, of which he is currently the President. From 2006 to 2009, he was also President of the General Confederation of Moroccan Entreprises (CGEM) and, from 2013 to 2021, Minister of Industry, Commerce, Investment, Digital and Green economy in Morocco.

1978 – 1994 :

Before the creation of the Saham Group

MHE graduated in Information Systems from the University of Sherbrooke (he was also Governor of the Faculty of Administration at the University).

He started his career in Canada, as a senior advisor to the Minister of Finance of Quebec. He then joined the Solidarité Unique Group (a canadian insurance company) as Head of IT, before being promoted to Vice-President.

Upon returning to Morocco, MHE joined the ONA Group (first private industrial and financial moroccan group, renamed Al Mada since) as General Manager of the insurance subsidiary, before being promoted to Secretary General of the Group.

From 1995 :

« Business Trackrecord » - Creation and expansion of

the Saham Group

In 1995, MHE founded the Saham Group, which started operating in financial services and is now one of the leaders of private investment in Africa.

Saham’s insurance and assistance division (Saham Finances) was launched in 1995 with the acquisition of the insurance broker AGMA (AGMA was taken public in 1998); it entered a critical stage of its development with the acquisition, in 2005 and 2006, of two moroccan insurance companies CNIA and Es Saada; the two companies were merged; and the amalgamated company taken public on the Casablanca stock exchange in 2010.

Saham Finances became a panafrican leader of the insurance and assistance business through several targeted acquisitions on the continent (such as that of the Colina Group in 2010, which had a presence in 16 countries of Central and West Africa).

The significant scale of Saham’s insurance and assistance business resulted in a historical transaction, by which the division was entirely sold to the South-African insurer Sanlam for a valuation of 2 Bn$.

Concomitantly with the development of the insurance business, MHE launched Saham’s outsourced services business by creating the company Phone Assistance in 1999. Phone growed into becoming the first call center and offshoring business in Morocco, which attracted the Bertelsmann Group, one of the sector’s global leaders. In 2004, Bertelsmann acquired 60% of Phone Assistance for a total valuation of 41M€ (25M€ for the 60% acquired by Bertelsmann). The offshoring division of Saham continued scaling-up through targeted acquisitions which resulted, in 2019, in the merger of Bertelsmann’s and Saham’s global CRM businesses – Arvato CRM, Phone Group, Ecco Outsourcing and Pioneers – under a newly formed Luxembourg based company, Majorel.

The Saham Group continues making investments in Morocco and Africa, giving preference to key sectors and those with a high social impact. In 2014 and 2015, the Group launched an Education division (International Education Group (IEG), 60% for Saham with a 40% partnership of TANA Africa Capital), a Real Estate division, an Agricultural division and a Health division (which was gradually dismantled between 2018 and 2020).

Beyond its « business track-record », the Saham Group remains imbued by the values conveyed by its founder and President: a strong culture of excellence and integrity, a structured, agile and collaborative governance as well the will to facilitate gender equality in leadership positions.

2013 – 2021 : Experience in the Government

In 2013, Moulay Hafid Elalamy was appointed Minister of Industry, Commerce, Investment and Digital economy. His political experience lasted 8 years during which he implemented several projects and reforms.

Some of these reforms, such as the Plan for industrial acceleration (Plan d’Accélération Industrielle), are distinctive of his mandate and imprinted by his business experience. Between 2013 and 2020, as part of the Plan for industrial acceleration, 50 industrial ecosystems were generated and organised in 14 structured sectors, 500.000 new jobs were created and the industry’s share in the GDP increased by 9 points.

Other reforms, despite being more discreet, demonstrate his willingness to modernize the moroccan business environnement. As an example, we can note the Law on limited companies which, among other things, makes gender equality in governance bodies compulsory, especially for publicly traded companies ; or also the deployment of the « Chikaya » platform for the digital processing of the citizen’s claims.

After 2021 : Return to business

At the end of his political mandate, Moulay Hafid Elalamy returned to the commands of Saham Group. In 2021, the Group announced the initial public offering of its subsidiary Majorel Group Luxembourg.

Social Commitment and Philanthropy

MHE is a well-known figure of the moroccan economic and social environment. From 2006 to 2009, he was elected President of the General Confederation of Moroccan Entreprises (CGEM). In 2017 and 2018, he was appointed President of the moroccan bidding comittee to host the 2026 Football World Cup.

He is also known for being a discreet philanthropist, acting through the Saham Foundation, a non-profitmaking organization of public utility.

The Saham Foundation works in favor of the most vulnerable populations, in Morocco and more broadly in Africa, by facilitating the access to healthcare for the most disadvantaged.

Moulay Hafid Elalamy also launched several initiatives to support young people: whether it is to facilitate and accompany entrepreneurship among young people (through the Sherpa Finance Club, which helps them in launching sustainable, competitive and job-creating businesses in Morocco and Africa) or to support the inclusion of young people with no job or training (through the creation of the Massari Center for training and professional integration).