Adil Douiri

Interview Summary

Adil Douiri is the founder and CEO of Mutandis, a Morocco-based company focused on consumer goods.

Douiri begins the interview by giving a glimpse into his family’s political background and his childhood. After studying and spending seven years with the European Investment Bank, Banque Paribas, in France, he returned to Morocco and founded the country’s first investment bank, the Casablanca Finance Group, in 1992. CFG capitalized on Morocco’s privatization in the 1990s and Douiri was able to help frame regulations for the country. CFG rapidly grew to 140 professionals in about six years. However, a major crisis arising from a painful bear market and the death of the late King forced the layoff of a third of the employees.

In 2002, Douiri became Minister of Tourism in Morocco. He had his initial strategy, devised in collaboration with the IMF, plan to attract tourists to the country by focusing on specific industries rejected. Yet he was pleased that the administration did move on from just focussing on macroeconomic variables to a broader understanding of the government’s role, including making strategic business plans, setting regulations, and providing ncentives to grow specific industries through free trade agreements.

Discussing the relevance of institutions like the UN, IMF, and World Bank, Douiri describes the role of collective belief, people, and governance in the development of an economy. He also explains how legitimacy and religion have contributed to the success of Morocco’s monarchy despite the country’s ethnic diversity.

In 2008, Douiri started Mutandis, a company focused on consumer staples. Along with factors like low cost of capital and diversified and predictable cash flows, the sale of day-to-day staples enabled the utilization of small mom-and-pop shops, Morocco’s main retail channel. Talking about Mutandis’ acquisition of a premier sardine brand from the United States in 2021, Douiri explains how niche products can make vibrant and dynamic markets like the United States attractive, as selling to the richest consumer earns the highest profits.

Douiri concludes the interview by advising young entrepreneurs to think big. “Thinking big means thinking more than your pocket,” he advises. “Don't think of your money. Don't think of wealth. Don't think of your friends and family. Think big. Have an idea. Make it big.”

In emerging nations, you sometimes go through critical phases where optimism and collective belief are the key to success and overcoming the hurdles. I always wanted to show pessimistic people, who criticize their country, the choices, the development that they were wrong. That has been a key engine behind my work.

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Additional Resources

• Feyisayo Ajayi, " Moroccan tycoon Adil Douiri gains $2.4 million as Mutandis shares soar,"

  billionaires.africa , September 20, 2023.

• " Interview avec Adil Douiri : « Nous évitons au maximum les guerres des prix et les appels d’offres. "

  L'Opinion Thursday , December 5, 2024.

• " Fro Mutandis s'offre la marque Ain Ifrane. "

  Boursenews , June 8, 2023.

• GHADA.ISMAIL, "CEO: Mutandis targets Saudi Market expansion in 2025,"

  Sharikat MUBASHER , February 4, 2025.

• " Dakhla: LGMC-Mutandis to turn fish waste into high-value products by 2025. "

  7newsMorocco , February 21, 2025.

• La perception du Made in Morocco par Adil Douiri, May 30, 2023.

Interview Citation Format

Interview with Adil Douiri, interviewed by Asim I. Khwaja, Casablanca, Morocco, 15 May 2025, Creating Emerging Markets Oral History Collection, Baker Library Special Collections and Archives, Harvard Business School, http://www.hbs.edu/creating-emerging-markets/.