By Kenza Sammoud

 

RABAT, 25 March. - (ANA) - Across hundreds of call centres in Morocco, conversations unfold without pause. Agents switch between scripts and carefully modulated accents to sell energy contracts, insurance policies, or telecommunications offers to customers in France, whom they will never meet.

 

For years, this largely invisible exchange has underpinned one of Morocco's most dynamic service industries, creating a steady bridge between Moroccan labour and European demand.

 

That bridge is now under threat.

 

A French law set to take effect on 11 August 2026 will ban unsolicited commercial calls without prior consumer consent, introducing a strict opt-in system requiring companies to obtain explicit consent before contacting consumers.

 

In France, the measure has been welcomed as an overdue response to years of complaints about intrusive and sometimes fraudulent telemarketing. But in Morocco, where nearly 80 per cent of the call centre sector's activity is tied to French clients, it is being received as a structural shock.

 

Morocco's Minister of Employment, Younes Sekkouri, has warned that up to 50,000 jobs could be at risk.

 

Morocco's call centre industry has grown steadily over two decades, positioning the country as a leading destination for French-language outsourcing. The sector employs around 120,000 people directly, generates between 10 and 12 billion dirhams in added value annually, and recorded approximately 1.3 billion dirhams in investment in 2023.

 

That growth, however, has always been concentrated in a single direction. "The sector grew very quickly over the past twenty years," says Omar Hasnaoui, 42, who started as a call centre agent before launching his own company in Casablanca. "A lot of people saw the opportunity and created their own businesses. But this growth was always tied to France because of geography, language, and lower costs, which also makes the sector very vulnerable today."

 

Khadija, 30, has worked at a call centre in Fes for five years. She describes an industry whose entire architecture was designed around one relationship. "The language, the training, the infrastructure, all of it is built around France," she says. "When the rules change there, the impact here is immediate."

 

The new law directly targets the activity that sustains much of that architecture: outbound telemarketing. For many companies, cold-calling campaigns are not a secondary service but the primary revenue source, particularly in energy, insurance, and telecommunications—the three sectors most exposed to the coming change.

 

"Outbound telemarketing is not a secondary activity; it is the backbone of the sector," says Hasnaoui. "In industries like energy, insurance, and telecom, most contracts depend on these calls. If they disappear, a large part of the ecosystem disappears with them."

 

The opt-in system changes the business logic.

 

France's previous regulatory approach relied on opt-out mechanisms and restrictions on calling hours—measures that constrained telemarketing without dismantling it. The new framework goes further. By requiring prior, explicit consent, it eliminates the mass cold-calling campaigns that outbound sales strategies rely on.

 

"This is not a simple tightening of the rules," says Ahmed Khamlichi, 38, who founded a call centre in Fes. "It changes the logic of the sector. Outbound calling depends on volume—you need to reach a large number of people to generate results. If you limit access to customers, you are limiting the activity itself."

 

Nabil Alami, a former consultant in offshoring services, frames the shift in terms of where the burden of initiative now falls. "In the previous system, companies could still operate at scale, even with restrictions," he says. "Now, you need a pre-existing relationship or consent. That drastically reduces your pool of potential clients."

 

Non-compliance carries consequences beyond lost revenue. The legislation introduces significant financial penalties and, in certain cases, criminal liability. "It's not just about losing revenue—it's also about avoiding sanctions," Alami notes. "That forces companies to be far more cautious, sometimes to the point of withdrawing from certain activities altogether."

 

The macroeconomic exposure is significant. But for the people who staff these centres, the uncertainty is already present.

 

Mehdi, 25, works in outbound sales for a French client at a call centre in Casablanca. He came to the job straight after finishing his studies. "It's not a perfect job, but it allowed me to be independent," he says. "If campaigns stop, we will be the first affected."

 

His income depends partly on performance bonuses linked to sales targets, meaning a reduction in call volumes would hit his earnings before it eliminates his position. "Even when activity slows down, you feel it immediately in your salary," he says.

 

Karima, a call centre employee in Casablanca, shares that concern, saying, "If the law reduces most of the calls, it will affect everyone. I may have to find a second job and put everything else in my life on hold."

 

Salma, 26, has worked in the sector for three years. She describes a floor-level atmosphere of quiet anxiety. "There are already discussions about restructuring," she says. "People are worried, but there is very little information. We are waiting without knowing what will happen."

 

The impact is expected to fall hardest on small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for an estimated 60 per cent of the sector.

 

"These companies operate with limited financial buffers," says Mohammed Noubi, 45, a senior manager at a Casablanca-based outsourcing firm. "If they lose key contracts, they cannot easily recover. Some may be forced to close."

 

 

 

 

Moroccan authorities have proposed a response: diversify beyond France, expand into higher-value services such as technical support, digital logistics, and customer relationship management, and strengthen digital skills training. The measures are presented as a strategy to protect the sector's long-term competitiveness.

 

Analysts are sceptical about the timeline. "Diversification is necessary, but it takes time," says Mohammed Amine, an expert in business development. "The sector has been built around France for decades—you cannot change that in a few months."

 

The workforce challenge runs deeper than geography. Most employees are trained in outbound sales, not in the technical profiles that higher-value services require. "There is a clear gap between the skills available and those required," says Noubi. "Part of the workforce risks being left behind."

 

For workers like Mehdi and Salma, the government's longer-term strategy offers little reassurance about what happens in August.   - (ANA) - 

 

AB/ANA/25 March 2026 - - -