In English Dernière étape de la mise en place d’une couverture universelle au Maroc, une nouvelle loi sur l'assurance maladie devrait prendre effet au début de l'année scolaire, étendant la couverture médicale aux étudiants des universités et des centres de formation professionnelle. L'inclusion des centaines de milliers d'étudiants de l'enseignement supérieur représente une étape…
Classified as a lower-middle-income country by the World Bank, the Moroccan economy is more than 50% made up of services, followed by 26% for industry and 15% for agriculture. Over the past three years, however, growth has been increasingly led by high value-added industrial sectors – especially in the automotive and aeronautics segments – and exports have begun to outpace imports. The recent
Founded in 1920 and floated on the Casablanca Stock Exchange since 1941, Auto Hall is one of the leading Moroccan operators in the automotive equipments imports and distribution sector. The group operates in five main business segments: 1) passenger cars, where the company distributes the Ford and Mitsubishi brands and where it also operates as an agent retailer of Fiat cars in some regions of Morocco…
Although the kingdom’s foreign policy choices have always been driven by pragmatism, Morocco has lately become more audacious in the way it projects its international profile. Much of this has been the result of its successful ventures into sub-Saharan Africa, where the country is increasingly becoming an important economic player, as well as closer cooperation with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)…
A tradition of centralised rule has typically limited the autonomy of the different administrative subdivisions in Morocco. However, the idea of greater devolution of power to local and regional authorities – to increase local participation in the governance process, to reduce development disparities and to improve transparency – has been gaining traction for decades, and a number of reforms are…
Moroccans benefit from a comparatively extensive social safety net, including a fairly large and generous pension scheme that begins at age 60 for government workers. However, a slowdown in hiring, combined with a demographic bulge that is on the verge of retirement, has combined to stretch the finances of the pension system – a challenge that is facing governments the world over. The Moroccan government,…
In the wake of the international financial crisis and the Arab Spring, Morocco has started running ever-widening fiscal and current account deficits. However, moves to slash energy subsidies, as well as the fall in international oil price, have helped to dramatically reduce both, boosting liquidity and exchange reserves. This has allowed the government to increase its focus on investment. Over the…
A tour of West and Central Africa by Morocco’s head of state in May 2015 has underlined the country’s increasing efforts to strengthen trade and investment ties with its neighbours south of the Sahara. Morocco’s government has sought to expand the country’s economic footprint in Africa in recent years, with King Mohammed VI spearheading a number of trips to West and Central African markets.…
In line with a global trend to increase private sector activity in infrastructure development, Morocco is now host to several major public-private partnership (PPP) projects, including the kingdom’s largest power station and port at Jorf Lasfar and Tanger-Med, respectively. PPP success has left the government keen to boost the number of such projects, and privately financed public infrastructure…
Over the past 15 years Morocco has signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with some of the largest economies in the world. This has impacted the kingdom’s trade figures, though in some cases it has also been followed by increases in trade deficits with these partners. The next major accord Morocco is likely to sign is a Deep and Comprehensive FTA (DCFTA) with the EU that expands the existing Association…
