Moroccan economy’s presence in Africa:
a) Trade:
• Morocco plays, thanks to its geostrategic position, the role of a trade and investment hub for Africa. It serves as a bridge between the Maghreb, West Africa and the rest of the continent;
•The economic strategy developed under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, towards the African continent, makes Morocco as a regional hub in other various key areas, including food security, infrastructure and renewable energy;
•Trade exchange between Morocco and Africa has reached 4 billion USD, in 2013.
•The volume of trade almost doubled over the period 2009-2014, mainly as a result of increased exports towards african countries;
•Moroccan exports to the African continent grew by 15% on annual average, reaching 1.7 billion US dollars in 2014, representing 8.6% of Morocco's total exports, compared with 4.7% 2004;
•Moroccan export products consist mainly of food, beverages, tobacco, semi-processed products (28%), processed consumer products (17%), processed industrial equipment products (17%), and energy and lubricants (5%).
b) Investments:
•Morocco is the largest investor in West Africa region, in key sectors such as infrastructure, social housing, electricity, fisheries, health, transport, banking and insurance, among others;
• Morocco is the second largest African investor in Africa (800 million US dollars): 85% of The Kingdom foreign direct investment is in Africa;
•7% of Morocco’s exports in 2012 were to the markets of the Sahel-Saharan states, aiming to raise the ratio up to 20% in 2018;
•Morocco is contributing effectively to “green revolution" in Africa. In terms of food security, the Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP) http://www.ocpgroup.ma/ , the world's largest phosphate exporter, launched several major projects in Africa:
-In 2012, OCP delivered a first stock of 10000 tons of fertilizers for the development of cocoa cultivation in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana;
-In February 2016, the OCP inaugurated a fertilizers production unit worth 5.3 billion dirhams dubbed “Africa Fertilizer Complex” dedicated to African markets;
-19th November 2016: (OCP) signed a deal with Ethiopia on to build a $3.7 billion plant to produce fertilisers. The project is expected to produce 2.5 million tons of fertiliser in its first phase by 2022, and a second phase would see a further $1.3 billion invested to increase production to 3.8 million tones three years later;
-4th December 2016: OCP and Nigirean “Dangote Group” signed an agreement for the creation of an integrated African platform for fertilisers production;
-An innovation fund for African agricultural development was launched to set up an incubation and financing system to support innovative African companies;
-OCP Group has major advantages to improve agricultural productivity on the African continent and is convinced that Africa holds considerable potential to achieve food security;
-OCP is planning to open subsidiaries in 13 African countries in line with the Kingdom’s strategy to boost economic ties and investments in the continent, namely in: Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroun, Benin, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Ghana and Ethiopia;