Rabat Trade exchanges between Morocco and African countries moved from 36.3 billion dirhams ($3.6 billion) in 2013 to 52.7 billion dirhams ($5.2 billion) in 2023, and Moroccan exports to African countries constitute 7.6% of the Kingdom’s total exports.
Phosphate and its derivatives represent the most important Moroccan exports to Africa, followed by cars, then marine fishing products, leather products 36%, electrical equipment, and finally textiles and clothing.
The Secretary of State in charge of Foreign Trade had announced in Parliament the content of a study related to trade exchange between Morocco and Africa, which concluded that Moroccan exports to the countries of the continent could be increased by about 12 billion dirhams ($1.2 billion) additionally.
According to the study, Moroccan exports can be enhanced by about 4 billion dirhams (about 400 million dollars) by adding 143 products to exports destined for North African countries, and they can increase by about 6 billion dirhams (about 600 million dollars) in West Africa by adding 159 new products to exports. Directed towards this region, the study also showed that Moroccan exports directed towards South Africa could rise by about 1.1 billion dirhams. (about 100 million dollars) through the export of 189 additional products.
It is expected that these numbers will strengthen in the future with the establishment of the African Free Trade Area, which includes 53 countries and entered into force on January 1, 2021.
On the other hand, African countries represent the main destination for Moroccan investments, as 51% of foreign direct investments abroad in the period between 2018 and 2022 were directed towards the African continent, according to a report by the Exchange Office.
Senegal leads the countries to which these investments flowed in 2022, followed by Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Gabon, and Ivory Coast.
According to data from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Moroccan investments in Africa increased from $100 million in 2014 to more than $800 million in 2021, making Morocco the second largest investor in the continent.
The President of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises confirmed during the last session of the MEDAYS conference, held in November in Tangier, that Morocco’s economic partnership with Africa will be further strengthened in 2024, noting that the Kingdom’s investments in the continent have amounted to about one billion dollars to date.
Partnership in stages
Hisham Hafez, a research professor at the Institute of African Studies at Mohammed V University in Rabat, attributed the increase in the volume of trade exchanges between Morocco and the rest of African countries to a group of internal factors, pointing in this regard to the policy pursued by the Kingdom in Africa, which he described as a “forward-looking policy” that is compatible with The ambitions of the African continent within the framework of Agenda 2063, as well as the characteristics of the African citizen and his socio-economic needs.
Hafez explained to Al Jazeera Net that the Moroccan-African economic and financial partnership has gone through three stages in the last two decades. The first stage extends from the year 2000 to 2016, that is, before the Kingdom’s return to the African Union, and is called “the bilateral economic partnership centered in the Francophone countries.”
The researcher pointed out that this stage was characterized by a significant increase in trade exchanges between Morocco and the rest of the African countries, amounting to approximately 38.3 billion dirhams (3.8 billion dollars) in 2016, compared to 8.6 billion dirhams (about 850 million dollars) in 2000, that is, an increase of 21.6% at an annual rate.
He added that most of the exports consisted of foodstuffs, phosphates and their derivatives, and some manufactured materials. As for financial exchanges or Moroccan investments within the African continent, they were mainly focused on the banking, insurance, construction, and transportation sectors.
Hafez called the second phase, which lasted between 2016 and 2021, “the multidimensional regional partnership phase,” which followed Morocco’s return to the African Union, and at that time decided to move towards Anglophone Africa, defying geographical and linguistic obstacles, which resulted in the conclusion of a group of strategic agreements in the field of Food security.
This stage was also characterized – Hafez explains – by Morocco’s involvement in the African Continental Free Trade Area project, which would enhance trade exchanges and economic integration with most of the rest of the African countries, and this, according to him, confirms the important increase in trade exchanges from 38.3 billion dirhams ($3.8 billion). in 2016 to about 52.7 ($5.2 billion) in 2023, approximately an increase of 38%.
As for the third stage, it is the “Strategic Continental Partnership Stage,” and the researcher says that it will enhance development in Africa by investing in infrastructure and creating industrial platforms to transform natural resources within Africa within the framework of African-African cooperation, by enhancing investments in the southern regions of Morocco to reduce Economic and social pressure of countries open to the Atlantic Ocean.
Researcher Hisham Hafez points out that there are external factors that have contributed to the increase in trade exchanges and investments. This relates to the trust and credibility that the Kingdom enjoys, whether from traditional partners or new partners, in addition to the accumulations in the field of experiences and expertise that Morocco has acquired in these recent years in a group of Vital fields that are at the disposal of other African countries to benefit from in order to create job opportunities and integrate into regional and international value chains.
Expanding partners
For his part, economic expert Rachid Sari stressed that the growing Moroccan presence in its African depth is part of Morocco’s strategy to expand partners, as it no longer relies on traditional partners only, but has expanded its relations to include China, Russia, and African countries, with a desire to open up to new markets.
The spokesman pointed out in a statement to Al Jazeera Net that Morocco used what he called “phosphate diplomacy” as a tool to strengthen relations with African countries, through the Office Cherifien des Phosphates, pointing out that the latter established a special office for Africa and has branches in 12 African countries, and concluded agreements with many African countries, including Ethiopia, Nigeria and Ghana, to build fertilizer manufacturing facilities.
Rachid Sari explained that Morocco’s investment trends in Africa do not tend to exploit the natural resources of these countries, but rather are based on transferring expertise in the fields of agriculture, fertilizers, land reclamation and banking, which enhances the existing joint development.
He pointed to a number of strategic projects launched by Morocco with partners in African countries, such as the Atlantic Initiative, which aims to enable the countries of the Sahel region to access the Atlantic Ocean, and the African-Atlantic gas pipeline project, noting that these major projects would contribute to building a united Africa. And economically integrated.
Challenges and an attractive market
The African continent includes about 1.3 billion consumers, and the internal product of its countries is approximately 3.4 trillion dollars, which makes it a promising and attractive market for Moroccan companies and also for exporters to enhance their exports to this market.
Despite the noticeable expansion of Moroccan investments in Africa and the steady increase in trade exchanges, they are still limited and face several challenges, the most important of which are political challenges, especially with regard to political instability in some countries, as explained by economic expert Rachid Sari, which hinders the implementation of investment projects and economic and financial partnerships. List.
Sari believes that closing the Western Sahara file once and for all within Africa would achieve a Moroccan-African renaissance, strengthen economic and political relations between its countries, and achieve development with a continental dimension based on the “winner-winner” principle.
As for Hisham Hafez, he believes that Moroccan economic policy in Africa faces challenges related to diversifying and providing the supply of Moroccan exports to the African continent, as most of the Moroccan products directed to the African continent are products with medium or weak added value, in addition to the fact that the supply directed to exports remains weak and insufficient. Compared to the demand of other African countries, in addition, according to him, there is another challenge related to small and medium-sized companies that suffer from a group of economic problems, such as access to financing and actual coping with confronting them. Some forms of unfair competition.
In a global context characterized by digital transformation and the grinding of global economic forces around the African continent, Hisham Hafez asserts that the Kingdom of Morocco is required today before tomorrow to diversify the production system directed to the African continent and invest in some vital sectors with high added value.
