Beyond the JEI label: what a real Moroccan Startup Act would require

The essential in one sentence: Morocco has a useful but narrow label (JEI, 2019); Tunisia has had a comprehensive Startup Act since 2018; the gap between the two is not cosmetic, it determines who can raise funds, hire, and export under competitive conditions.

The Observation

The Young Innovative Company (JEI) label, issued by the Digital Development Agency since September 18, 2019, primarily facilitates payment via international card (up to 1,000,000 MAD/year) for the purchase of digital services abroad. It is a useful cash management tool, not a legal regime. It covers neither the extended tax exemptions, nor the facilitated exchange regime for international fundraising, nor the employee-shareholder status (stock options) that a full Startup Act offers.

Tunisia settled this debate as early as 2018: its Startup Act combines a statutory label, sabbatical leave for civil servant founders, exchange guarantees, and dedicated taxation. The quasi-experimental evaluations available show measurable effects on the creation and survival of labeled companies — a level of evidence that Morocco cannot yet produce for its own system, for lack of rigorous ex-ante/ex-post comparison.

Why now is the time (Three Horizons, 1-5 years)

H1 (present): the JEI coexists with GITEX cohorts (Morocco 100/200) without a unified legal architecture — a stack of labels, not a status. H2 (12-24 months): the pressure of international visibility (AFCON 2025, 2030 World Cup preparations) creates a window where clarifying several regulatory frameworks simultaneously is politically cheaper than during a steady-state regime. H3 (24-48 months, desirable): a unified legal status, built on already tested building blocks (ADD as the certifying body, CCG/Tamwilcom as the financing guarantor), which replaces the current stack of ad hoc labels.

Recommendations

• To the legislator: audit the exact gap between the current JEI and a full Startup Act before proliferating new sectoral labels — each additional label without a unified status complicates legibility for foreign investors.
• To international investors: do not confuse the JEI label with the legal security of a Startup Act — due diligence must integrate this distinction, particularly for cross-border financing structures.
• To the ADD: publish a tracking dashboard for the 500+ JEI-labeled companies (survival, employment, fundraising) — a minimum condition for a future Moroccan Startup Act to rely on data rather than on international comparison alone.

Method

Combined STEEP + Three Horizons (Sharpe/Bibby) approach, short- to medium-term horizon (1-5 years), adapted to a regulatory transformation in the process of settling rather than being finalized.

References

• Ali, N., Calì, M., & Rijkers, B. (2025). Promoting innovative startups: Quasi-experimental evidence from Tunisia. Journal of Development Economics, 177, 103539.
• Sold, K. (2018). The Tunisian Startup Act. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
• Menon, C., DeStefano, T., Manaresi, F., Soggia, G., & Santoleri, P. (2018). The evaluation of the Italian "Start-up Act". OECD Science, Technology and Industry Policy Papers, No. 54.
• Agence de Développement du Digital (ADD). (2019). Label Jeune Entreprise Innovante.