Moroccans boycott dairy company amid prices hike

(MENAFN) The Moroccan government has warned against consumers' boycott that targets milk, mineral water and fuel brands, blamed for the layoff of hundreds of workers at a major dairy company, saying it will deter foreign investment and cost jobs.

"The continuation of the boycott will have repercussions on national and foreign investments and Morocco's economy as a whole," the prime minister's office said in a statement issued late on Thursday.

The campaign takes aim at the largest dairy company, France's Centrale-Danone, Afriquia fuel stations owned by the Akwa group of billionaire agriculture minister Aziz Akhanouch, and the Sidi Ali water brand-seen as symbols of an economy dominated by large groups linked to a business and political elite, or foreign brands.

"The goal of this boycott is to unite the Moroccan people and speak with one voice against expensive prices, poverty, unemployment, injustice, corruption and despotism," one of the boycott pages on Facebook said.

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