Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Rabat – A report by Morocco’s Agency for Development of Investment and Export (AMDIE) and Mazars has estimated Morocco’s investments in Africa at around $4 billion.
Mazar is a french based consulting firm operating in 90 countries specializing in tax and audit advisory services, according to the group’s website.
The report, titled “Analysis of investment in Africa in 2020,” was released on the African commemoration day last Tuesday and highlighted Morocco’s stellar performance as a leading investor in the continent.
The kingdom has proved its Pan-African vision by signing trade agreements with many countries in Africa, averaging 1,000 trade agreements in the last 20 years.
Morocco adhered to the economic community of West Africa and ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement in March 2018. The AfCFTA is the largest free trade agreement globally with the potential to surpass larger trade blocs such as the EU in performance.
With nearly $4 billion invested in the last four years in over 30 African countries, Morocco has enriched its portfolio and demonstrated its interest in the prospects of development in Africa.
Read also: African Development Bank Forecasts 4.5% Economic Growth in Morocco
The African continent is rich in natural and human resources and is likely to become a hub for foreign investment in the coming years.
The continent has experienced unprecedented economic dynamism and growth and is the world’s second-fastest-growing economy, according to a 2017 report by the African bank.
Despite a sharp decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2020, occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, the African economy is expected to rebound as global activity resumes.
However, Morocco’s interest in developing its relationship with West African countries is not a new trend. The kingdom has a long-term goal of increasing its African economic exchanges to 60% by 2022.
Featured by Forbes as the emerging 5th strongest economy in Africa by 2021, Morocco is driven by its desire to develop several economic sectors.
Morocco already signed a contract with Guinea through the Cherifian Office for Phosphates in Morocco (OCP) to provide the West African country with fertilizers.
Additionally, Maroc Telecom, the largest telecommunications company in Morocco, operates in 11 countries in Africa and has invested over €6 billion (MAD 37 billion) to improve its services in the continent.
Morocco is also seeking to use its expertise in renewable energy to help sub-Saharan countries progress towards sustainable development.
The Noor solar plant in Ouarzazate, for example, is the world’s largest concentrated solar power plant. According to Aziz Rabbah, Morocco’s minister of energy, the complex supplies around 2 million Moroccans with Electricity.
Morocco’s interest in Africa is economical as government officials have emphasized Morocco’s “Africaness” on several occasions.
King Mohammed VI’s annual diplomatic visits to African countries indicate its commitment to fostering closer and stronger ties with its regional partners.
Morocco’s African-oriented policy, including its interest in investing in the region, bolsters its Pan African strategy.
As the kingdom continues to strive to establish itself as a “gateway to Africa,” diverse investment in Africa appears promising for the Moroccan economy.
