The story
Foundation
Compagnie générale immobilière was founded in 1960, four years after the independence of Morocco. It was one of the first subsidiaries of the Caisse de dépôt et de gestion, a public financial institution established in 1959.
CGI was originally set up within the CDG group and later became part of CDG Développement.
Development
During the following decades, CGI took part in the development of housing programmes in several Moroccan urban areas. By the end of 1979, the company had completed 4,694 housing units, mainly intended for civil servants and employees of the semi-public sector.
Between 1980 and 1990, CGI brought more than 21,000 housing units to the market, intended for approximately 100,000 residents. A large share of these developments consisted of economic housing.
The company was also associated with the Darlamane project in Casablanca, a housing development of around 4,000 units that received recognition from the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
In the mid-1990s, CGI developed several real estate projects, including Al Boustane and Mimosa in Rabat, Arsat Sala in Salé and Al Hadika in Casablanca. The company later introduced a quality-management programme known as “Miftah”, linked to the adoption of ISO 9001 certification.
CGI subsequently moved towards larger urban projects, including Casablanca Marina and Casa Green Town. It also obtained ISO 9001 certification under the 2008 version of the standard.
Stock exchange listing
In 2004, CGI became a subsidiary of CDG Développement, which held 99.9% of its capital.
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In 2006, the company's headquarters were moved from the Hassan district to Hay Riad in Rabat.
In May 2007, CGI adopted a governance structure consisting of a management board and a supervisory board. In July 2007, the company received approval from the Commission déontologique des valeurs mobilières for the listing of approximately 20% of its capital on the Casablanca Stock Exchange.
CDG-CGI affair and delisting
In October 2014, the CDG-CGI affair emerged amid criticism of certain real estate projects and of governance within the group. Following the affair, Ali Ghannam, director general of CGI, and Anas Houir Alami, director general of CDG, were removed from their positions.
The same month, CGI announced its intention to withdraw from the stock exchange. Minister of Finance Mohamed Boussaïd stated that the affair would affect CGI's share price and indicated that the company's new orientation would place greater emphasis on its public-service role rather than on commercial objectives. CGI was effectively delisted in 2015.
From Wikipedia’s article on Compagnie Générale Immobiliere, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3