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Join on Telegram Doha – The recent thawing of diplomatic relations between France and Morocco, after a two-year chill over the sensitive issue of Western Sahara, is opening up new economic prospects for French companies operating in the kingdom, French sources have indicated.
French businesses had been keeping a “low profile for two years” amidst the tensions, but now feel that “the wind is clearly back in France’s sails,” a BFM TV report quoted one anonymous French business leader in Morocco as saying.
The shift comes after French President Emmanuel Macron expressed support for Morocco’s 2007 Autonomy Plan for Western Sahara in a July letter to King Mohammed VI.
Macron’s letter saw France join the United States, Germany, and Spain in rallying behind the Moroccan proposal, which has been rejected by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front that seeks to challenge Morocco’s territorial integrity.
Jean-Charles Damblin, head of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Morocco, notes that while French companies faced some challenges in winning public contracts during the period of strained ties, overall “we did not see a marked slowdown” in economic relations.
France remains Morocco’s top foreign investor, with nearly all the companies of the CAC 40 stock market index represented in the country through 1,000 French subsidiaries.
Bilateral trade hit a record €14 billion last year, bolstered by a sharp increase in French agricultural exports amidst the war in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Morocco is now the leading African investor in France, with direct investment rising from €372 million in 2015 to €1.8 billion in 2022.
Read also: France Eyes Economic Gains, Regional Influence from Western Sahara Stance
Still, the diplomatic rapprochement, which Moroccan officials hope will pave the way for greater economic cooperation especially in the Western Sahara, has been met with relief by French firms.
Major Moroccan economic players have “started knocking on our door again” for partnerships, reports one anonymous French entrepreneur.
In one sign of the new dynamic, shortly after Macron’s letter was made public, a French-Moroccan consortium led by engineering firm Egis was awarded a contract to extend Morocco’s high-speed rail line.
The French government has also expressed readiness to help finance a high-voltage power transmission line from Casablanca to Dakhla in the Western Sahara region in southern Morocco.
The southern provinces are strategically important for Morocco’s economic development plans focused on renewable energies. French companies like Engie are already involved in wind and water desalination projects there.
Political scientist Khadija Mohsen-Finan sees Macron’s shift as giving French businesses a “political guarantee, for lack of having it at the legal level” regarding their presence in Western Sahara, even if the move has been condemned in France and on the international stage.
A source close to the issue insisted to AFP that while it inevitably carries economic consequences, the decision “was first and foremost a political stance.”
But not all French firms are rushing to seize the opportunity – one major company told AFP it chose to forgo setting up operations in Western Sahara, wary of ruffling shareholders sensitive to sovereignty issues.
The diplomatic warming, while broadly welcomed by French business, remains a politically delicate development as Paris and Rabat navigate a complex geopolitical dossier.
