While rumors about his departure had been circulating for weeks, it seems that Mohamed El Kadiri, «the kingpin of OCP's industrial transformation» has indeed left the world's leading exporter of phosphate rock, phosphoric acid and phosphate fertilizers. French-language online newspaper Le Desk, quoting Maghreb Confidentiel, reported that OCP's deputy secretary general Hicham El Habti «has been appointed to replace secretary general Mohamed El Kadiri on an interim basis». The departure of the former Managing Director and Secretary General of OCP, according to Maghreb Confidentiel, was decided after Prime Minister «Saadeddine El Othmani refused to reappoint him, believing that it is illegal», wrote Le Desk. Mohamed El Kadiri who worked as a teacher before he was appointed by Mostafa Terrab at Morocco's National Telecommunications Agency (ANRT) in the 2000s. He later joined OCP after Mostafa Terrab was hired to head the firm in 2006. Hicham El Habti graduated from Ecole Polytechnique and Ponts et Chaussées. He joined the OCP group in 2013. He served previously as a secretary general for Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) and secretary Deputy General of the OCP Group.
