European Business Talks Exclusively to
Mr Mohammed BENCHAABOUN Minister of Economy and Finance about the rising global economic powerhouse that Morocco is becoming and their plans for the future.
Africa is home to seven of the world’s ten fastest growing economies and by 2050 the connent’s popula on is expected to overtake India’s and Chinas, doubling to 2 billion people. What can Morocco, the gateway to Africa, offer to enrich the corporate landscape? Morocco enjoys an outstanding geographical posi on at the crossroads of the Arab world, the African con nent and Europe. This posi on naturally offers our country the opportunity to serve as a gateway for European companies and investors seeking business opportuni es in Africa. In this regard, Moroccan authori es have deployed tremendous efforts 44 europeanbusinessmagazine.com
over the last few years to establish Morocco’s posi on as a regional economic and financial hub, through several sectoral and structural reforms aimed at enhancing the business environment and strengthening industrial and export infrastructure, with a major focus on diversifying trade and investment partners, including in Africa. Morocco has also developed a large network of bilateral agreements, comprising of 26 Bilateral Investment Trea es (BIT) and 20 double taxa on agreements with its African partners. These agreements aim to create a stable and conducive legal environment for the development of bilateral investments, in line with our strategy
to consolidate Morocco’s posi on as the second largest African investor on the con nent and the largest investor in western Africa. Likewise, as an ac ve member of the African Union, Morocco is part of the new African Con nental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which entered into force in May 2019. This free trade area, the world’s largest in terms of number of participating countries, will grant Morocco-based companies access to a market of 1.2 billion people and a gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.5 trillion, across all member States of the African Union. In this regard, Moroccan companies are well poised to seize the opportunity of increased intra-african trade
