Rabat - French magazine, Jeune Afrique, recently named King Mohammed VI among the 50 foremost African personalities, “who have marked 2016.”
Rabat – French magazine, Jeune Afrique, recently named King Mohammed VI among the 50 foremost African personalities, “who have marked 2016.”
Jeune Afrique said that the King’s classification is a result of the trade efforts he made over the course of 2016 on the African continent.
“The King of Morocco crisscrossed the continent in 2016, signing numerous contracts, with African heads of the states to support Morocco to return to the African Union,” Jeune Afrique said.
Jeune Afrique’s list includes African heads of states, ministers, human right activists, sportsmen, musicians and actors. Moroccan, for example, tycoon and politician Aziz Akhannouch walso secured a place of honour on the list.

The magazine said that [Akhhanounch] “is called the savior of Moroccos’s National Rally of Independents (RNI) political party. The Moroccan businessman, who has become the favorite of the Palace, has managed to make himself as a key player in negations with Morocco’s Head of Government Abdelilah Benkirane to form the new government.”
Mohamed El Kettani, Chief Executive Officer for Morocco’s first bank, the Attijariwafa Bank, has also found himself among the 50 most prominent African personalities.
The magazine said that Kettani’s classification follows the remarkable African agreement that he concluded last October. “Kettani has concluded one the most successful takeovers of the year [2016] by taking over Barcalys Egypt,” Jeune Afrique said. “The acquisition positioned the bank on one of the first African markets and it will develop the Attijariwafa bank in the Middle East and east Africa.”
Jeune Afrique also classified the head of the Sherifien Office of Phosphates, Mostafa Terrab, as one of the spearheads of the new Moroccan diplomacy, based on the economy and mineral resources of the Kingdom.
“[Terrab who is a] former promoter of Areva nuclear reactors, returned to the country to expand the pan-African ambition and economic of his country,” Jeune Afrique said.
Famous Moroccan novelist Leïla Slimani ranked among 2016’s 50 African influential personalities after winning the Prix Goncourt 2016 for her second novel, “Chanson Douce,” in November.
“Slimani discusses the issue of motherhood from the point of view of the mutual dependence between a mother and a woman paid to keep and love her child,” Jeune Afrique said.
Edited by Constance Guindon