Hamid Maher appointed Managing Director in the BCG Casablanca office
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has appointed Hamid Maher as a Partner and Managing Director in its Casablanca office. The Moroccan outfit has a team of around fifty employees, with four partners and twelve support staff among the mix.
The demand for services from the consulting industry in Morocco is currently at a significant high, particularly from the public sector. The Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Interior in Africa’s fifth richest country both recently called for tenders on projects that involved operational optimisation and the establishment of a population register, respectively.
Major names from the industry, including Big Four firms EY and KPMG, as well as management consultancies McKinsey & Company and Roland Berger, all submitted bids for the projects, although Big Four rival PwC emerged victorious to seal both the contracts.
Most major firms already have a presence in the country. McKinsey, Bain & Company, and Mercer all have a presence in Casablanca, which they leverage to offer service across Francophone Africa. BCG itself has had a presence in the country since the establishment of its Casablanca office in 2010, housed in a four-storey villa.
The office’s operations will now receive a boost with the partner appointment of Hamid Maher, who has been employed with the firm since its entry into Casablanca in 2010, immediately after obtaining an MBA in Paris. Before his MBA, Maher worked as a management-consultant for Capgemini Consulting in France, where he covered significant projects for airline, automotive, and energy companies.
Commenting on the minor shift in career, Maher said, “After my engineering studies (Maher is a graduate of the French university École Supérieure d'Électricité [Supélec]), I worked for five years as a consultant at Capgemini Consulting, I then felt like taking up a new professional challenge, acquiring a broader business vision, and expanding my network. Without any preconceived idea on my project, I decided to pursue an MBA from INSEAD.”
On his appointment at the time to BCG, Maher said, “The opening of the Casablanca office, with its entrepreneurial spirit and energy, as well the quality of exchanges with BCG’ers during recruiting interviews, met my expectations perfectly.”
In his new role, Maher will join the firm's Partner team in Casablanca. In the capacity he will leverage his experience in public sector reform projects, and his expertise in leading the Digital & Analytics activities across Africa, which span South Africa, Nigeria, and Angola.
The Casablanca office, however, is noteworthy in that it employs people from ten different countries, making it one of the most diverse offices for the firm across the globe. The hub is led by Patrick Dupoux, who was responsible for the firm’s entry into Casablanca, and heads BCG's operations for the African continent.
Commenting on his new role, Maher said, "Clients value our knowledge of the region and our presence in Morocco, which is a natural place for them to position themselves on the continent. BCG provides the means to always push our reflection one step further and the opportunity to generate tangible impact. There is a culture of innovation and a will to challenge the status quo. Further, there is an environment of trust, mutual help, and empowerment.”