The Moroccan Diaspora and Public Policy

The Moroccan diaspora contributes in major ways to Morocco’s economic development. Moroccan migrants ease the country’s chronic unemployment and underemployment problems, send remittances, invest in the home country, and typically visit Morocco frequently as tourists. In addition to that migrants usually retain close links with Morocco, and help in less direct ways to forge trade and third-party investment links between Morocco and their host countries. Drawing on the relatively small number of studies of the subject and the very sparse data available, this note examines the drivers of Moroccan emigration and the different ways the diaspora affects the economy. We then discuss what Moroccan policymakers can do to make more from the diaspora while minimizing the adverse effects of such large numbers abroad.