Morocco made its phone monopoly hit commercial targets, then split and sold it

In the mid-1980s Morocco's telecoms were run directly by the ministry: chronic under-investment, less than half of expressed demand met, and congested networks. The state first created ONPT (1984) as an autonomous public operator, then backed it with two sequential World Bank projects — the second a US$100 million loan (3557-MOR) implemented 1993–97 under a performance contract between ONPT and the government.

The results doubled the system in six years: exchange capacity rose from 858,000 to 1,683,000 lines, connected main lines from 657,000 to 1,375,000, with 99.3% of switching digitized by end-1997. Staff productivity improved from 17.5 employees per 1,000 lines in 1992 to 10.3 in 1997 — while employment actually grew from 11,500 to 14,700, defusing the usual labor opposition to reform.

Cost discipline was the quiet triumph: the plan had budgeted about US$2.1 billion for 1,076,000 new lines (US$1,950 per line); ONPT delivered 1,085,000 lines for US$1.3 billion — roughly US$1,200 per line, about 40% under budget — largely self-financed from its commercial cash flow while contributing to government finances.

Only then came the structural break: Law 24/96, adopted June 29 and promulgated August 7, 1997, ended the monopolies, split ONPT into Itissalat Al-Maghrib (IAM, later Maroc Telecom) and postal operator Barid Al-Maghrib, and created the ANRT regulator — fifteen years of sequenced Bank engagement culminating in a liberalized sector.

Corporatize under a performance contract before privatizing

A performance contract gave the monopoly commercial targets and autonomy before ownership changed, proving the business model first.

Growing employment while doubling productivity removed the political blockage that kills most state-enterprise reforms.

Sequencing — corporatize, then legislate, then open to competition — meant IAM started life financially solid rather than distressed.

Sustained engagement across two projects over fifteen years let each reform build on credibility earned by the last.

Selling a monopoly that cannot run commercially just privatizes the dysfunction; a binding performance contract builds the track record that makes liberalization and sale possible.

Itissalat Al-Maghrib was renamed Maroc Telecom and partially privatized in 2001, when Vivendi bought a 35% stake; it later listed in Casablanca and Paris (2004) and became one of Africa's largest operators. Morocco licensed a second operator (Médi Telecom) in 1999, and mobile penetration eventually dwarfed the fixed network ONPT built. The ICR rated both Bank and borrower performance highly satisfactory.