Meriem Benabad earned an engineering degree from the Mohammedia School of Engineers after mathematics preparatory studies, then built over a decade of experience in the fast-moving consumer goods industry, including roles at Procter & Gamble and Silent Believers Distribution, before completing executive education at Stanford Graduate School of Business as a Harambeans fellow.
In 2022, Benabad co-founded z.systems (also known as Z Systems) alongside Samer Choumar and Youssef Ait-Haddouch, building a B2B e-commerce marketplace to modernise Morocco's traditional retail sector. Traditional trade, known locally as 'hanouts', still accounts for roughly 85% of Morocco's FMCG market, a fragmented system Benabad describes as a 'black box' that data and aligned incentives could transform into a transparent, scalable network.
As Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Benabad helped z.systems close a $1.5 million seed funding round led by Moroccan venture capital firms, backed notably by a leadership team of female investors. The company has partnered with Morocco's Ministry of Industry and Trade on a national programme to digitise 50,000 proximity stores across the country by 2030, positioning z.systems as a foundational player in Morocco's retail modernisation.
- Co-founded z.systems, addressing Morocco's $25 billion FMCG market
- Closed a $1.5 million seed funding round backed by leading female Moroccan investors
- Partnered with Morocco's Ministry of Industry and Trade to digitise 50,000 proximity stores by 2030
- Advanced to the 2026 Africa's Business Heroes semi-final
- Industry depth reveals opportunities outsiders miss.. Her decade inside FMCG companies gave her direct insight into the inefficiencies of Morocco's traditional retail distribution.
- Respect existing systems while modernising them.. Rather than bypassing traditional shopkeepers, z.systems builds tools that empower them within the existing retail structure.
- National partnership can scale a private venture's impact.. Working with Morocco's government on the hanout digitisation programme extends z.systems' reach far beyond what a private company could achieve alone.