Ithmar Capital

Morocco · Africa · Founded 2011 · Strategic development fund · IFSWF full member

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Focus

Ithmar Capital: what it invests in

Tourism and hospitalityReal estateInfrastructure and utilitiesRenewables and climate

Real estatePrivate equityInfrastructure

Geography Mainly domestic

Scale

Ithmar Capital: how big it is, and on what basis

Not disclosed

Total assets (balance sheet)

Transparency

Ithmar Capital: what it publishes

5.0 of 10 Band 3 of 5

Published 4 · Partly 2 · Not published 4

Our 10 item score. It measures what is public, not how well a fund is run.

Wessal commitmentS5: EUR 2.5B (five sovereign funds)
Initial capitalS1: MAD 1.5B
FoundedS1: 2011
State ownershipS1: Two thirds
IFSWF member sinceS2: 2015
Transparency scoreS8: 5.0 of 10

At a glance. Ithmar Capital is Morocco's strategic investment fund, created in 2011 as a tourism development fund and widened in 2015 and 2019 to other strategic sectors. It invests as an equity partner and brings in foreign sovereign capital, most notably the EUR 2.5B Wessal venture with four Gulf funds. It leads the Africa Sovereign Investors Forum and is an IFSWF member. S1 S5 S6

Key points

Owned two thirds by the State and one third by the Hassan II Fund. S1
Started with MAD 1.5B of initial capital for its predecessor fund. S1
Portfolio sits in two main sectors, tourism and real estate. S5
Formed Wessal in 2011 with Kuwait's Al Ajial, Mubadala, PIF and Qatar Holding. S5
Building a pan-African investment platform, first focused on renewable energy, with African Development Bank support. S6
Signed a cooperation MoU with the Philippines' Maharlika Investment Fund in 2026. S7

Interesting facts

Wessal Casa-Port is turning Casablanca's old fishing port and shipyard into a new district. S5
Ithmar describes itself as an honest broker between national priorities and private capital. S8
It is a separate entity from the Mohammed VI Investment Fund. S9

Mandate and goals

Support Morocco's economic development as a patient, multi-sector investor and co-investment partner for international funds. S8 S1

Attract sovereign and institutional co-investors to Morocco. S1
Invest in tourism, infrastructure and other strategic sectors. S1
Promote intergenerational equity and a sustainable economy. S8

How it invests

Industries	Tourism and hospitality, Real estate, Infrastructure and utilities, Renewables and climate S5 S6
Asset classes	Real estate, Private equity, Infrastructure S5
Stages	Real estate, Infrastructure, Growth S5
Geography	Mainly domestic. Morocco, with a pan-African platform in development S5 S6
Direct / through funds / co-invest	Yes / No / Yes S5
Ticket size	No ticket range published S5
External managers	None published S5
Co-investment programme	Wessal, a co-investment venture with four Gulf sovereign funds S5

Largest holdings: Wessal Capital EUR 2.5B commitment, SAPST (Taghazout bay), Societe de Developpement de Saidia S5

Published criteria

Strategic national sectors, mainly tourism and real estate. S5
Projects that can bring in foreign sovereign capital. S1
Long-term, patient horizon. S8

Past investments

Year	Investment	Type	Sector	Stage	Amount
2011	Wessal Capital. Venture of five sovereign funds created at Ithmar's initiative. S5	Joint venture or partnership	Real estate	Real estate	EUR 2.5B equity commitment
Not published	Wessal Bouregreg. Second phase of the Bouregreg valley urban development. S5	Co-investment	Real estate	Real estate	Not published
Not published	Wessal Casa-Port. Conversion of Casablanca's old fishing port and shipyard. S5	Co-investment	Real estate	Real estate	Not published
2012	SAPST (Taghazout bay). Equity stake in the resort developer alongside CDG, Sud Partners and SMIT. S5	Co-investment	Tourism and hospitality	Real estate	Not published
Not published	Societe de Developpement de Saidia. Saidia resort company owned with CDG. S5	Joint venture or partnership	Tourism and hospitality	Real estate	Not published
2026	ASIF Investment Platform. Pan-African platform whose first vehicle targets renewable energy, backed by the African Development Bank. S6	New company or platform	Renewables and climate	Infrastructure	Not published

Case studies

Wessal: pooling Gulf sovereign capital S5

What: Five sovereign funds formed a venture to develop Moroccan urban projects.
When: 2011
Size: EUR 2.5B equity commitment
Why: Bring long-term foreign capital to large urban and tourism projects.
Outcome: Projects at Bouregreg and Casa-Port.

Taghazout bay resort S5

What: Equity stake in SAPST with CDG, Sud Partners and SMIT.
When: 2012
Size: Not published
Why: Deliver the national tourism plan.
Outcome: Resort project at Taghazout bay.

Africa Sovereign Investors Forum S6 S10

What: Ithmar launched ASIF and is building an investment platform for its members.
When: 2023 to 2026
Size: Not published
Why: Pool African sovereign capital for regional infrastructure.
Outcome: First vehicle focused on renewable energy.

Investment process

A Supervisory Board chaired by the Minister of Economy and Finance oversees the CEO, with investment and audit committees. S4

Committee	Role
Investment and Strategy Committee	Chaired by Dounia Taarji S4
Audit and Risks Committee	Chaired by Abderrahmane Semmar S4

Identify strategic project. S1
Structure joint venture with co-investors. S5
Board committee review and approval. S4

How to approach: Contact via the fund website. S8

Size and returns

Headline size: Not disclosed (Total assets (balance sheet)) S1
Initial capital of predecessor fund: MAD 1.5B (Committed or authorised capital) S1
Wessal equity commitment (five funds): EUR 2.5B (Committed or authorised capital) S5
Returns: the fund does not publish a return figure.

Leadership

Name	Title
Obaid Amrane	Chief Executive Officer S4 S6
Nadia Fettah Alaoui	Chair of the Supervisory Board, Minister of Economy and Finance S4
Dounia Taarji	Board member for the Hassan II Fund; chair of the Investment and Strategy Committee S4
Abdellatif Zaghnoun	Board member for the State holdings agency S4

Governance and transparency

Legal basis: Decree 2-11-52 (2011), Decree 2-19-134 (2019) and Law 17-95 on public limited companies S1
Oversight: Supervisory Board chaired by the Minister of Economy and Finance S4
2025 Santiago Principles self-assessment published. S1
Elected to chair IFSWF in January 2022. S11

Transparency score: 5.0 of 10 (band 3 of 5). Our own 10-item rubric; see the methodology page.

Published: geographic or sector split, holdings or deal list, governance and mandate documents, named leadership. S1 S4 S5
Partly published: asset allocation, audited financial statements. S3 S5
Not published: total assets, annual return, long-term returns, regular reporting schedule. S1 S8

History

Date	Event
2011-02-18	FMDT created by Decree 2-11-52. S1
2011	Wessal formed. S5
2012	SAPST stake. S5
2015-07-08	Mandate widened by the board; IFSWF membership. S1
2019-03	Renamed Ithmar Al Mawarid. S1
2022-01-21	Elected to chair IFSWF. S11
2026-07-28	Maharlika MoU reported. S7

For family offices

Partners mostly with sovereign funds and national institutions through joint ventures; ASIF is aimed at African institutional investors. S5 S10

Joint ventures in tourism and urban projects. S5
Pan-African platform through ASIF. S6

Reports

Santiago Principles self-assessment 2025: https://www.ifswf.org/assessment/ic-2025 S1

Common questions

What is Ithmar Capital?

Morocco's strategic investment fund, created in 2011 and widened in 2015 and 2019. S1

Who runs it?

Obaid Amrane is Chief Executive Officer. S4

Is it the Mohammed VI Investment Fund?

No, they are separate entities. S9

What is Wessal?

A venture of five sovereign funds with a EUR 2.5B equity commitment. S5

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Mohammed VI Investment Fund (FM6I) Morocco · MAD 15B initial capital
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All sovereign wealth funds in Africa · All strategic development funds · All funds in Morocco

Sources

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