The Moroccan Debt Administration (french: administration de la dette marocaine), formally known as the ''Contrôle de la dette'' from 1904 to 1910 and after that as the ''Administration du Contrôle de la dette publique mahghzénienne'' (referring to the Moroccan monarchy as the

Makhzen Makhzen (Arabic: , Berber: ''Lmexzen'') is the governing institution in Morocco and in pre-1957 Tunisia, centered on the monarch and consisting of royal notables, top-ranking military personnel, landowners, security service bosses, civil servant ...

), was an entity set up by the French government in 1904 to administer the sovereign debt of the Moroccan Monarchy.

History

The Moroccan Debt Administration originated in 1904, as Morocco's sovereign debt, which had increased significantly following the

Hispano-Moroccan War (1859–1860) The Hispano-Moroccan War, also known as the Spanish–Moroccan War, the First Moroccan War, the Tetuán War, or, in Spain, as the War of Africa, was fought from Spain's declaration of war on Morocco on 22 October 1859 until the Treaty of Wad- ...

and the

First Melillan campaign The First Melillan Campaign, also called the Melilla War or the Margallo War (after Juan García y Margallo, the Spanish governor of Melilla whose defeat and death infuriated the Spanish public) in Spain, was a conflict between Spain and 39 o ...

of 1894, was restructured by the

Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas The Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas (“Bank of Paris and the Netherlands”), generally referred to from 1982 as Paribas, was a French investment bank based in Paris. In May 2000, it merged with the Banque Nationale de Paris to form BNP Paribas. ...

(BPPB) in coordination with the French government. as a consequence, France became the only creditor of the Moroccan government. The loan contract was signed on by Moroccan Foreign Minister Si Abdelkrim Ben Slimane, Moroccan Finance Minister Si Mohammed Tazi, and the BPPB's representative Georges Zangarussiano. The loan amount was 62,5 million francs, divided in 125.000 bonds of nominal value 500 francs each, for an interest rate of 5 percent. It was guaranteed by revenue from the Moroccan customs, in the collection of which the Debt Administration would be directly involved. A further loan was negotiated in 1910. An indirect consequence of the 1904 debt restructuring was the establishment of the

State Bank of Morocco The State Bank of Morocco (french: Banque d'État du Maroc) was a quasi-central bank established in 1907 following the Algeciras Conference, to stabilize the Moroccan currency and serve as a vehicle for European and especially French influence ...

in 1907, also in Tangier, following the Algeciras Conference of 1906. The administration acted on behalf of the private debt consortium, under the auspices of the French government but free from hierarchical authority of the French Consul in Tangier. It was initially led by French diplomat , then by Gaston Guiot under whom its expanded into an increasing number of state-like functions, until the

Treaty of Fes The Treaty of Fes ( ar, معاهدة فاس, ), officially the Treaty Concluded Between France and Morocco on 30 March 1912, for the Organization of the French Protectorate in the Sherifien Empire (), was a treaty signed by Sultan Abd al-Hafid ...

formally established the

French protectorate in Morocco The French protectorate in Morocco (french: Protectorat français au Maroc; ar, الحماية الفرنسية في المغرب), also known as French Morocco, was the period of French colonial rule in Morocco between 1912 to 1956. The prote ...

in March 1912. It kept receiving Morocco's customs revenue until 1918, and was still in activity in 1925.

Building

A dedicated building was erected for the debt administration and completed in 1910, on a major new thoroughfare in

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the cap ...

which was then in the process of being created and was thus initially known as the ; it became the in 1915. It was built in

Moorish Revival architecture Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centur ...

by the local firm of Desforges & Rousseau. With the establishment of the

Tangier International Zone The Tangier International Zone ( ''Minṭaqat Ṭanja ad-Dawliyya'', , es, Zona Internacional de Tánger) was a international zone centered on the city of Tangier, Morocco, which existed from 1924 until its reintegration into independent Moroc ...

, the building initially hosted the offices of the zone's International Administration, which stayed there until 1937. Shortly after Moroccan independence in 1957, it was the seat of the , an association of businessmen for the improvement of the Tangier economy that issued a monthly publication titled ''Tanger''. As of 2022, the building, also known as ''Dar el-Salaf'' and located at 29 boulevard Pasteur, is the seat of the Regional Tourism Authority (french: Office du Tourisme). It also houses the personal library donated in 1985 to the City of Tangier by influential scholar

Abdellah Guennoun Abdellah Guennoun ( ʻAbd Allāh Gannūn, Born 16 September 1908 in Fes – died 9 July 1989 in Tangier) was an influential Moroccan writer, historian, essayist, poet, academic, administrator, journalist, and ''faqīh''. He was one of the leaders ...

, whose volumes were transferred there after his death in 1989.

Notes

Palaces in Morocco Buildings and structures in Tangier Spanish North Africa Moorish Revival architecture {{Morocco-struct-stub

History

Building

See also

Notes