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In general, the majority of African countries have a formidable genetic and biological potential that remains poorly developed despite a clear national will to preserve this common heritage. Thus, it is a matter of making the natural capital visible to decision-makers in order to accelerate the process of valorization and conservation of natural resources.

Countries need to implement the Nagoya Protocol - which is a legally binding international agreement - in its regulatory and institutional frameworks in order to further capitalize on the potential socio-economic benefits of its rich genetic resources. Given the complexity of implementing the Nagoya Protocol, the economic valuation of ABS has a twofold objective: first, to quantify the potential economic value of Moroccan genetic resources, in terms of their potential contribution to the economic output generated in the country, and to highlight the additional potential benefits of genetic resources, both locally and internationally. Secondly, the aim is to ensure capacity building and awareness raising among key stakeholders.

Two approaches are advocated to achieve this. First, the "products" approach, where the scope of the study concerns genetic resources from the country, particularly endemic resources. The analyses of the study will focus on the collection of studies and data related to the defined resources. The study then moves on to estimating the economic value of the activities associated with these resources as well as analyzing the indirect and induced economic effects through economic multipliers. Secondly, the so-called "sectoral" approach uses a range of sectors using genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, including the pharmaceutical, agricultural, industrial biotechnology, cosmetics, botanical, and food and beverage sectors.

Over the past two decades, scientific and technological advances, evolving markets, and new business and intellectual property models have transformed the demand for access to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge in these sectors. As a result, the Nagoya Protocol will be implemented in a very different context than in 1992, when negotiators signed the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This is an opportune time for the Nagoya Protocol to adapt to these new realities and incorporate the lessons learned over the past twenty years of implementing its access and benefit-sharing (ABS) policies.

There is a need to adopt an approach based on value chain analysis of sectors exploiting genetic resources. This analysis should identify the different links allowing the valorization of genetic resources, the positioning of these resources and their contribution to the sector or industry.

The economic valorization is essentially based on an analysis of national and international markets, based on the exchange/exploitation of genetic resources. The analysis of the positioning and weight of each genetic resource should be carried out through an estimation of the national market for these resources as well as an in-depth review of world exchanges. At the national market level, it is generally based on the exchange and exploitation of several genetic resources that are essential for various sectors. At the global level, it is important to analyze the potential for international development, while noting new trends in trade. For example, the United States and Europe continue to have the largest companies, but market growth in these countries has slowed in recent years. In contrast, markets and companies in emerging economies, such as Brazil, China, and India, are experiencing steady growth. 

It should also be noted that the size of companies exploiting genetic resources varies according to the performance of each sector. Analyses can range from the largest pharmaceutical and food companies with annual revenues of over US$50 billion, to seed companies with sales of US$7 billion (indicative figures based on sector averages), to very small companies, particularly in the botanicals sector. Finally, it is also important to note the growing market interest in "natural", "green" or "fair trade" products.

Finally, and more generally, it is very important in any study of the economic value of ABS to understand the demand for global access to genetic resources. In high-tech industries, such as pharmaceuticals, agriculture and biotechnology, the need for access to genetic resources is less than in the past, thanks to large-scale field sampling, but interest remains. In low-tech industries, consumer demand for novel and natural ingredients is often central to product identity and marketing. New research tools mean that the diversity found in existing company collections, particularly in previously inaccessible microorganism genomes, will keep researchers busy.

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