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Marrakech – Foreign direct investments (FDI) in Morocco rose by 55% in 2024, reaching $1.64 billion compared to $1.05 billion in 2023, according to the World Investment Report 2025 published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
The report shows that Morocco’s total FDI stock reached $61.5 billion by the end of 2024, up from $59.5 billion the previous year, demonstrating continued investor confidence in the country’s economy.
North Africa emerged as the primary driver of investment growth across the continent, with Morocco playing a key role alongside Tunisia, which saw a 21% increase in FDI to $936 million, and Egypt, which also experienced strong growth.
However, outbound investments from Morocco declined during this period. Moroccan investments abroad fell to $694 million in 2024, down from $1.2 billion in 2023, indicating a potential shift in domestic investment priorities.
The construction sector maintained its critical importance throughout Africa, addressing substantial infrastructure gaps and urban development needs. Morocco, along with Ghana and Kenya, attracted medium-sized projects with notable impact, while countries like Egypt, South Africa, and Angola secured larger-scale investments.
Across the African continent, FDI flows increased by a remarkable 75% to reach a record $97 billion in 2024. This figure represented 6% of global FDI inflows, up from 4% the previous year, and 11% of total FDI directed toward developing economies, compared to just 6% in 2023.
Even excluding a major international financing agreement for urban development projects in Egypt, FDI in Africa still grew by 12% to approximately $62 billion, accounting for 4% of global flows. This growth was supported by liberalization and facilitation efforts throughout the continent.
Investment facilitation measures played an important role in Africa, representing 36% of investor-friendly policy measures. Liberalization also remained a key component of investment policy development in both Africa and Asia, accounting for one-fifth of measures adopted in 2024.
The report reveals that European investors hold the largest FDI stock in Africa, followed by the United States and China. Chinese investments, valued at $42 billion, are diversifying into sectors such as pharmaceuticals and agri-food.
Rising competition, internal issues hit Morocco’s FDI
While the value of international project finance contracts across Africa increased by 15%, driven by major energy and transport infrastructure projects, the number of projects decreased by 3%. Renewable energy was the only sector to register notable growth, with seven major contracts worth approximately $17 billion.
These renewable energy projects included green hydrogen initiatives in Egypt and Tunisia, two large solar and wind power projects in Namibia, and a green ammonia and industrial fuel production project in Morocco.
Despite these positive developments, some analysts have expressed concern about longer-term trends. When compared to the $3.6 billion of FDI Morocco received in 2018, the 2024 figure of $1.64 billion represents a 54% decline over six years, raising questions about the country’s industrial development strategies.
Experts note that data interpretation can be confusing, as Morocco’s Exchange Office reported gross FDI of $4.34 billion in 2024. However, this figure includes various components such as equity investments, profit reinvestments, and intra-group loans, which don’t necessarily reflect new capital arrivals or new project implementations.
Several factors have contributed to this downward trend, including global economic uncertainty exacerbated by the Ukraine conflict, trade tensions, and persistent inflation. Regionally, competition has intensified, with countries like Egypt capturing an increasing share of African FDI through aggressive incentive policies and attractive free zones.
Internal obstacles also play a role, with international investors pointing to procedural complexities, administrative response delays, governance coordination issues, and insufficient hosting infrastructure as impediments to investment.
Despite these challenges, the North African country maintains numerous structural advantages, including a relatively controlled macroeconomic framework, stable legal environment, and a network of over fifty free trade agreements providing preferential access to a market of more than one billion consumers.
