Back

Morocco’s Economic Diplomacy and Development

April 9, 2026
Related topics: 
Economy
Diplomacy
Africa

This episode explores Morocco’s economic diplomacy, from 1980s liberalization to its rise in global value chains in automotive and aerospace. Strategic reforms and infrastructure projects have attracted investment and expanded ties across Africa, yet trade deficits linger. While European partners remain central, Morocco is gradually exploring new markets and diversifying its economic footprint, hinting at an ambitious path forward.
 

Speakers
Mounia Boucetta
Senior Fellow
Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, Mounia Boucetta has over 20 years of experience in public administration, holding numerous managerial and leadership roles, and working particularly on the development of industrial and commercial policies. She was most recently Secretary of State to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Morocco from 2017 to 2019.   A graduate from the prestigious Mohammadia School of Engineers (Morocco), Mounia Boucetta joined the Ministry of Industry and Trade in 1991 where she held numerous positions before her appointment as its Secretary General in 2010. In this context, she contributed to numerous projects including, but not limited to, reorganizational projects, implementatio ...
Rim Berahab
Senior Economist
Rim Berahab is Senior Economist at the Policy Center for the New South, which she joined in 2014. She is currently working on themes related to energy issues and their impacts on economic growth and long-term development. Her research areas also cover trade and regional integration challenges in Africa. Previously, she has also worked on questions related to gender inequalities in the labor market of North African countries. Rim spent three months at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in 2016, in the Commodities Unit of the Research Department. She holds a State Engineering degree from the National Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics (INSEA). ...

RELATED CONTENT

  • L’épilogue du litige commercial entre le Maroc et la Turquie devant l’OMC peut-il être le prologue d’une « stratégie litigieuse nationale » ?
    Authors
    Jamal Machrouh
    January 20, 2020
    Le 3 octobre 2016, la Turquie a déposé une plainte contre le Maroc devant l’Organisation Mondiale du Commerce (OMC) au sujet des mesures antidumping appliquées par le Maroc contre les exportations turques en Acier laminé à chaud.1 Suite à l’échec des consultations entre les deux pays, la Turquie a demandé, le 12 janvier 2017, l’établissement d’un groupe spécial pour examiner la conformité des mesures prises par le Maroc avec le droit de l’OMC. Demande qui marque le passage du litige ...
  • The Rationale behind India’s Shift to Africa
    Authors
    Samuel Arnaud
    Ihssane Guennoun
    October 28, 2019
    Africa, as a continent of economic opportunities, is attracting foreign players. In this context, India is emerging as an important partner, especially for Eastern and Southern Africa. The complexity of its geopolitical environment combined with internal specificities motivated the revival of interest for the continent. This paper draws on historical developments between India and African countries to provide the state of play of recent linkages. Those trends are better perceived th ...
  • Download PDF
    The escalating China-US trade dispute: economic and geopolitical implications for Sub-Saharan Africa
    Authors
    Uri Dadush
    May 22, 2019
    The trade tensions between the United States and China will cause only minor immediate damage to their giant economies. However, tariffs have important and diverse effects on individual sectors and cause heightened uncertainty. The main adverse effects on Sub-Saharan Africa will therefore be through global investor confidence, economic growth and commodity prices, and these effects could be severe if the dispute escalates further and endangers the rules-based trading system. The tra ...
  • What will it take to realize the promise of the African Continental Free Trade Area?
    Authors
    Anabel Gonzalez
    August 30, 2018
    The agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a framework to create a free trade area across the region, bringing together the 55 members of the African Union into a continental market with a cumulative Gross Domestic Product (GDP) exceeding US$2.2 trillion and a total population of over one billion people. When concluded and successfully implemented, it will become the largest free trade area in the world in terms of membership, opening up significa ...
  • Food Security in Morocco and India: Different Challenges for Joint Answers?
    Authors
    Ihssane Guennoun
    August 1, 2018
    “This article has been originally published in 'Morocco in Focus 2018,' the magazine of the Moroccan Embassy in New Delhi, India on the occasion of the Morocco National Day 2018.” Introduction In an article published last year, the author stressed the role of partnership between Morocco and India for the inclusive growth of small farmers. There is no doubt that agriculture remains a major instrument for human development both in India and in Africa. Several international reports&n ...
  • African think tanks Summit: a common view for the challenges ahead
    Authors
    Sabine Cessou
    May 31, 2018
    What are the best ways forward to enhance the capacity, increase the impact, and ensure the long term viability of think tanks in Africa? These questions have been debated during the 2nd edition of African Think Tank Summit (ATTS) held in Rabat from May 9th to May 11th.  The African think tanks have positively evolved over the years in order to respond to the specific needs of their different countries. They operate as platforms to share knowledge and train young leaders, with ...
  • Partager Speech of H.E Olusegun Obasanjo at the African Think Tank Summit : “Think Tanks and Regional Integration: Strategies for Long-Term Impact"
    Authors
    May 31, 2018
    Salutations Thank you for the invitation to address the 2018 Africa Think Tank Summit  in this memorable city of Rabat. I thank in particular, the OCP Policy Center and the Think Tank and Civil Societies Program of the University of Pennsylvania for hosting the Summit with the theme “Deepening Expertise and Enhancing Sustainability: Insight into Contemporary Challenges Facing African Think Tanks”. Rabat, Morocco has been the sprouting ground of numerous agenda-setti ...
  • La zone de libre échange continental : lever les inquiétudes pour réussir
    Authors
    Mouhamadou Moustapha Ly
    March 28, 2018
    Ce mardi 21 Mars 2018, quarante-quatre chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement réunis à Kigali (Rwanda) signaient l’accord de création de la zone de libre échange continentale (Continental Free Trade Area, CFTA). Cet accord historique marque la volonté des Etats africains d’aller vers la mise en place à l’échelle du continent d’un marché commun où les échanges de biens et de services seraient libres et la circulation des capitaux et des personnes sans contraintes. Tels que précisés dans la ...
  • Atlantic Currents: Setting Sail on Currents Powered by Winds of Change
    Authors
    Lilia Rizk
    October 19, 2015
    OCP Policy Center holds in its arsenal a wide array of different resources aimed at creating a knowledge sharing platform that constructively dissects key economic, international relations and strategic issues. To achieve this objective, research initiatives, training programs and sessions, as well as conferences and seminars are put in place, thus offering an appropriate open debate platform to stimulate new analytical approaches.  Within this range of activities, OCP Policy ...