Spanish Outlet: Morocco, Germany Are Valuable Trading Partners

Laayoune – Morocco has become a valuable trade partner for Germany, according to Spanish news outlet Atalayar.

Morocco is a coveted hub for the growth of Euro-African business due to its strategic geographic location in the north-west of the African continent, facing both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean, as well as its heavy investment policies in logistics and transport sectors.

Just recently, Hassan Sakhi, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Services (CCIS) of the Rabat-Sale-Kenitra region, and Andreas Wenzel, the managing director of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Morocco, met in May to sign a partnership agreement intended to formalize cooperation between the CCIS and the German Chamber of Commerce in Morocco.

The May 2022 agreement is part of the two countries’ constant efforts to boost economic relations and trade.

The investment stock between Berlin and Rabat has dramatically gone up since the 2010s, making the North African kingdom the second-largest investment destination in Africa for German companies. Atalayar cited Andreas Wenzel as saying that “since 2010, Moroccan exports have climbed by 122% while the stock of German investments has increased by 643%.”

Wenzel’s point is further supported by the commercial database Trading Economics, which has documented that the total value of German exports to Morocco has seen a steady increase over the previous five years.

Specifically, Germany’s exports to the North African country totalled MAD 24.50 billion ($2.38 billion) in 2017. This number further increased to MAD 25.22 billion ($2.45 billion) in 2018. And while it rose even more in 2019 to MAD 25.73 billion ($2.50 billion), it saw a sharp decline in 2020 when Germany exported a total of MAD 22.64 billion ($2.2 billion) to Morocco.

This decline is due to the emergence of the COVID-19, which caused massive economic recessions across the globe.

However, shortly after the reduction of the COVID-19 restrictions on trade in 2021, the number of Germany’s exports to Morocco rose to MAD 26.86 ($2.61 billion) – the highest it has been over the last 10 years.

For Atalayar, all of this reflects the strong commercial ties between the two countries.