The Economy of Morocco

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Morocco's strategic location as a geographical and cultural bridge between Africa and Europe made it a major trade hub in the region. The political and historical relations with the countries of the region made of the Kingdom a strong economic partner with these continents.

For many decades, Morocco has adopted a policy of economic and financial openness aiming to integrate of the Moroccan economy into the global one, and to contribute to the consolidation of a multilateral trading system.

Over the last decade and with particular focus in the past few years, Morocco has reformed its economy to enhance productivity and strengthen resilience to external shocks. Key reforms have included restoring macro-economic balance and cutting subsidies.

This vision has been translated into a deepening of competitive modernization reforms, a consolidation of partnerships with key players of the globalized system, and the progressive diversification of partnerships with emerging and developing countries within the framework of the South-South dimension of Morocco's foreign policy. As the foundation stone of its system of alliances and partnerships, the Kingdom's regional foothold had a turning point with the return of Morocco to its African institutional family " African Union", which would enable it to play a more structuring role in favor of the development of the continent, based on the win-win cooperation schemes.

A continuous and sustainable growth

The growth rate of the Moroccan economy reached an average of 5.1% during the last decade, following the increased growth of the primary sector (4.3%), the stable growth of the non-agricultural sector (4.9%) and the average growth of 5.2% as average in the service sector, mainly because of the increased contribution from telecommunications (13%), and services aimed at companies (6.8%), and linked to the openness policy and the development of the off shoring.

At a sectoral level, agriculture represents between 12% and 17% of GDP (depending on the year), and employs 45% of the total workforce. The secondary sector, accounts for 30% of GDP, and focuses on mining and phosphate processing (Morocco has the world’s largest phosphate deposits at 75 % of world reserves), textiles and food processing. The sector of services accounts for 38% of GDP, 8% of which dedicated to tourism. At the domestic level, Morocco has made of human development a national priority. Thanks to this approach the GDP per person has increased by 70% in real terms, since 2000. Diversifying the economy is a government priority as set out in the 2014-2020 Industrial Acceleration Strategy which promotes the creation of “industrial clusters” in key industries, including mining, renewable energy, automotive, aerospace, cabling, textiles and pharmaceuticals. This strategy is expected to generate half a million jobs and increase the share of industry in GDP by 9%, from the current 14% to 23% of GDP.

Towards a better distribution of national wealth:

The Advanced Regionalization implemented in 2015, is, also, intended to increase the participation of the citizens in the political life. The Regions have now independent structures with a broad autonomy and attributions. The advanced regionalization system implemented by Morocco gives these regions wide attributions in order to define and apply the State supported policies that they set autonomously. The benefits of this rapid expansion are all fairly divided on all the regions of Morocco.

For example, the regions of the Sahara achieved the largest annual growth rate between 1998 and 2012. The local entrepreneurs of the Sahara region have been participating in the exploitation of its natural resources and they have developed their financial capacities and their know-how in order to broaden the field of their activities at the national and international levels.

The local population plays also a prominent role in the policy making process inherent to the management and exploitation of natural resources. It exercises this right at the national level, through the parliamentary representatives, and at the local level, through local officials, Union Representatives and professional corporations.

The Dakhla, Oued Dahab and Laayoune Al-Saqiah Al Hamra regions, benefited, in 2015, from a significant increase in the volume of public investments in the framework of an ambitious program of sustainable development, launched by the King Mohammed VI in November 2015, aiming to make of this region a major economic and logistic hub towards Africa.

For this program, huge investments estimated at 8 billion dollars have been allocated. 134 projects of this program have been effectively implemented in 2016 in the sectors of infrastructures, energy, fisheries, health and education.

The construction and extension of the airports of the Sahara region were all carried out. Heavy investments have been made by the Kingdom of Morocco to strengthen the road network in the region. The Tiznit-Laayoune-Dakhla expressway project aims to provide the Southern Provinces with a roadway of international standards which spreads over nearly 1,055 km.

Recent Projects launched in Morocco

The Inauguration of the first High Speed Train in the African Continent connecting between Tangier and Casablanca. This structuring project is the outcome of an important economic and political collaboration between the Northern Shore of the Mediterranean and its Southern Shore.

In the automotive sector, Morocco has become an auto-hub and set the target of producing 1million vehicles by 2025. Morocco is, nowadays, the first car producer in Africa and the Middle East region.

In fact, Morocco has shown its ability to put technology at the service of its development with the launching of the 2nd Moroccan observation Satellite by Ariane Space.

Tangier is making its way to become an economic hub city thanks to its port. The Tangier Med Port has tripled its capacity and become the 17th in the world ranking for connectivity. Tangier Med Port connects the country to 185 ports and 80 countries, becoming the first port in the Mediterranean.  It will benefit regional and continental economic integration dynamics such as the African Continental Free Trade Area.

One of the world's largest solar power stations, located near Ouarzazate is, in fact, only one part of the global strategy to make of Morocco the future Green Hub of the Continent. The choice to make of the Kingdom a renewable champion has never been dictated by the urgencies of the moment. Indeed, sustainable growth is one of the cornerstones of the development model adopted by Morocco. Under the leadership of HM the King, Morocco has firmly embarked on the path of responsibility to face climate challenges.

Main Industries

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The main industries in Morocco are renewable energy, aeronautics and the automotive industry and electronics which have made significant strides over the past decade, in addition to the offshoring sector, textile, food processing, pharmaceutical industry and mining. The Kingdom of Morocco introduced 4 years ago an new industrial policy, known as the Industrial Acceleration Plan which aims to bring the sector’s contribution to the GDP from its current 14% to 23% by 2030, and create 500.000 new jobs. Between 2008 and 2016.

Morocco Competitive Landscape

Morocco is a competitive marker with fierce competition from Europe and China in terms of quality, price and financing. The legal system is based on a combination of French, Spanish, and Islamic laws, and can be complex for U.S. companies to navigate.

ICT

Government strategy for digital transformation aims to create a suitable environment for digitization of Morocco’s administration and economy and aspires to become a digital regional hub.

ICT sector in Morocco offers opportunities in open data/open government, Telecom (5G), IT Infrastructure, IT Software, Cybersecurity, Could services, IoT, AI, Fintech and Blockchain, Outsourcing, Education and trainings. 

The main industries in Morocco prepare their transition to digital manufacturing and will need international expertise. 

Energy

By 2030, renewable energy sources are planned to provide 52% of the total installed capacity. 

Morocco plans to decrease energy consumption by 15% by 2030 through energy efficiency enhancements and is actively involved in the development of green hydrogen.

Aerospace

The aerospace sector is among the leading sectors of Morocco’s Industrial Acceleration Plan.

The future of aerospace will be made with Morocco. Morocco's aerospace industry paved its way towards remarkable growth, thanks to competitive advantages that the country offers. This industry is now solidly rooted in the global market, attracting major international players who have heavily invested with state-of-the-art aeronautical production capacity.

The Moroccan Aerospace is now a key player at a global scale, with highly trained human resources and a strategic location making the country one of the most privileged destinations for global aerospace leaders.

Opportunities for investment

​Morocco is a country that offers unlimited opportunities for investment. As one of the most stable countries in North Africa, the kingdom ranks among the top three recipients of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in Africa. According to the recent “World Bank Ease of Doing Business report”, Morocco holds the 53rd position out of 190 countries and its objective is to be among the top 50. Today’s figures reveal that the Kingdom is the second largest African investor in Africa, the first one in West African region and 85% of Morocco’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is concentrated in Africa – this continent of 54 countries.

Today, the economy of Morocco is going global. It consists of a large manufacturing base that includes sectors like automotive, aerospace, agro-industry, electronics manufacturing centers, pharmaceuticals, metallurgy, mechanics and chemicals. A part from these sectors, Morocco maintains its position as the world’s largest exporter of phosphate with more than 75% of the world’s total phosphate reserves.

Furthermore, Morocco has undergone significant transformations in many spheres that have bolstered its economic growth and allowed it to become more stable and resilient to global threats. These spheres include number of world-class infrastructures: 1800 km of highways across the Kingdom, the port of Tanger-Med, one of the biggest container ports in the Mediterranean, the high-speed train which makes Morocco the first African and Arab country to launch this mega infrastructure and possess this technology, etc.The attractiveness of Morocco has got the attention of the world’s business communities and multinational companies.

Morocco became more present in the radar of Indian companies and business players, not only thanks to its favorable business environment by also to the culture affinity existing between the Moroccan and Indian people. Indeed, since the historic visit of His Majesty the King Mohammed VI to India in October 2015, the Morocco-India bilateral relation has been elevated to the level of Strategic Partnership, which had a positive impact on the business connection.

​Besides, Morocco succeeded all over the last decade to position itself as a hub for trade and investment in the African continent. This regional ambition is embodied with projects such as the Tanger-Med Port and Casablanca Finance City, a hub for international companies wishing to invest in Africa.