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Although Morocco’s economy has traditionally seen the highest concentration of economic activity around the major cities of Casablanca, Rabat and Tangiers, several initiatives have sought to increase investment in the country’s southern region. The area benefits from a number of natural resources, including pelagic fish and mineral reserves. Wind and solar generation, as well as ecotourism, are other potential areas for growth. However, a lack of clarity over taxation procedures has reduced the amount of funding available for municipalities aiming to improve social services and infrastructure. Reducing unemployment – higher than elsewhere in the country – also remains a challenge. This chapter contains interviews with Hassan Sentissi, President, National Federation of Seafood Processing and Development Industries; and Omar Belmamoun, CEO, Brookstone Africa.

As the only country in North Africa without commercially relevant oil or gas reserves, Morocco relies heavily on foreign energy imports to meet domestic demand. To counter this dependence, the government has embarked on a range of reforms to boost renewable energy sources. These efforts are concentrated around solar, wind and hydroelectricity, which together are expected to comprise 42% of the national energy mix by 2020. This new emphasis on renewables is also set to develop new industries and generate employment. At the same time, the government has sought to source hydrocarbons closer to home, attracting investment from small-scale oil and gas exploration companies. This chapter contains interviews with Stephen Jenkins, Chairman, Circle Oil; and Nasim Khan, Vice-President for Africa, First Solar.

Estimated at around 5% of GDP, the telecommunications sector has greatly expanded over the last few years, even by emerging market standards. Mobile and internet penetration have increased on the back of reduced prices and a rise in foreign investment, with the mobile segment leading growth in usage volumes. Moreover, the government has led a push to encourage infrastructure sharing, on the back of a 2012 plan to cover 50% of the population with high-speed broadband by 2027. Indeed, the Digital Morocco 2013 plan aims to boost the use of technology by Moroccan businesses, although some constraints in implementation have caused delays. This chapter contains an interview with Youssef Chraibi, President, Moroccan Association for Customer Relations.

The government’s Green Morocco Plan, launched in 2008 to run through 2020, aims to boost productivity through closer public-private collaboration, while at the same time improving smallholders’ earnings. While the country has in recent years made significant strides in boosting food output, several segments – including cereals, powdered milk and table oil – fall shy of their potential, and Morocco continues to rely heavily on food imports to meet demand. Even so, the value of food exports in Morocco grew 3.2% from 2013 to 2014, with the increase driven mainly by processed foods and seafood. This chapter contains interviews with Mohamed El Guerrouj, Director, Agency for Agricultural Development; and Rita Maria Zniber, CEO and Chairman, Diana Holding.

An influx of capital and a number of major upgrades have improved Morocco’s transport sector significantly in recent years, with private investment initiatives working alongside the state-led development programme. Despite tight budgetary constraints, authorities allocated a large chunk of the 2015 budget towards transport projects, with the biggest slice going to the ports segment, followed by tranches for road, rail, airport and logistics upgrades. These projects should help push Morocco up the World Economic Forum’s rankings for global competitiveness, where it is currently ranked 55th out of 144 countries for overall infrastructure, well above many of its North African neighbours. This chapter contains interviews with Driss Benhima, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Royal Air Maroc; and Nadia Laraki, General Manager, National Ports Agency.

After a slowdown in recent years, Morocco’s construction industry saw a return to growth in 2014 and continues to be driven by strong demand for housing, public spending on infrastructure and investor incentives from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Policy – though constraints on credit access are restricting the volume of new developments. A unified construction code designed to raise standards, improve transparency, boost competition and reduce the incidence of informal building – which makes up 25% of sector activity, by some estimates – is expected to come into force in 2015. Real estate activity has closely followed that of construction, with transactions and foreign direct investment both increasing in 2014, though prices remained stable. Government incentives for development in the low-income and mid-range segments are designed to close the housing deficit, and a range of mixed-use projects are in the works. This chapter contains interviews with Mohamed Nabil Benabdallah, Minister of Housing and Urban Policy; and Zhor Kabbaj, Director-General, Softgroup Immobilier.