Morocco
A year after their last High-level meeting, Morocco and Spain seek once again to upgrade bilateral cooperation. Spanish president Pedro Sanchez paid an official visit to king Mohamed VI alongside his foreign minister, José Manuel Albares. The visit follows a recent flurry of activity between Spain and the Alawi kingdom: Sanchez had met Moroccan PM Aziz Akhannouch in Rabat last December, while in January the Spanish minister of the Interior, Ferdinando Grande-Marlaska, had flown there to meet with his counterpart Abdelouafi Laftit. Sanchez’s last visit to the Moroccan capital dates back to February 2023, less than a year after Madrid had abruptly recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara. This change of track had come to the detriment of Spain’s traditional ties to Algeria, which Albares was supposed to visit this month in an attempt to normalize the now-frayed relations. The visit, however, was cancelled at the last minute, sparking renewed tensions with Spain’s erstwhile ally.
France also seeks to strengthen its frayed ties with Morocco. The newly appointed French foreign minister, Stéphane Sejourné, met prime minister Aziz Akhannouch in Rabat alongside his Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita. Sejourné, who stated that he had been personally tasked by French president Emmanuel Macron to take charge of the Morocco dossier, expressed France’s “firm and constant support” for the Moroccan Autonomy Plan concerning the West Sahara, although he did not explicitly endorse it over the claims of Algeria and the Polisario Front, who have repeatedly clashed with Morocco for control of the region. Sejourné also expressed French interest for a thirty-years’ partnership with the Alawi kingdom and announced further visits by, among others, the French ministers of Culture and Finance.
In the wake of Mauritanian president Ghazouani’s visit to Algeria, Morocco has reportedly resumed works on a road connecting the West Saharan town of Amgala to Mauritania. Effectively frozen for the last six years, the project aims to strengthen infrastructural connections between Morocco and Mauritania, which in turn constitutes a gateway to West African markets. However, it also reflects a clear mistrust towards the UN mission deployed in West Sahara, as the road is set to cut through the UN-established buffer zone between West Sahara and Mauritania, where MINURSO runs an operation base.
West Sahara is also the keystone of the Atlantic Initiative put forward by king Mohamed last December, as the trade corridor it envisages would connect the land-locked Sahel countries to the Altantic Ocean by way of Dakhla, a major Moroccan-held port in the disputed region. The subject has likely been broached during the Rabat meeting between Moroccan prime minister Aziz Akhannouch and his Niger counterpart, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine. Like neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso, Niger has joined the Initiative to alleviate the toll of ECOWAS sanctions on the current military junta, which came to power following the April coup against elected president Mohamed Bazoum. Morocco, on the other hand, aims to gain the support of Sahelian countries on the West Sahara dossier and to undermine traditional Algerian influence in the region.
Finally, news for the Moroccan defense sector. According to press sources, Morocco is installing a new anti-aircraft missile system in the Sidi Yahya a El Gharb military base, to the west of Rabat. The system operates in a 250-kilometers range and is equipped with four batteries of Chinese FD-2000B missiles, which the Alawi kingdom acquired in December. Negotiations are reportedly underway to supply the system with Israeli Barak and Patriot 8 US missiles. The first air defense installation in Sidi Yahya El Gharb were first detected through satellite imagery in 2022.
Download the February 2024 report
Med-Or Foundation attended the 12th edition of the international conference “The Atlantic Dialogues” organized by the think tank The Policy Center for the New South in Marrakech, Morocco.
Med-Or Chairman Marco Minniti visited the Kingdom of Morocco and signed two partnership agreements with the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation and the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication
The graduation marks a key moment of the collaboration between Med-Or, LUISS Guido Carli University and the Mohammed VI Polytechnic of Rabat.
| Head of state | King Mohammed VI |
| Head of Government | Aziz Akhannouch |
| Institutional Form | Unitary parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy |
| Capital | Rabat |
| Legislative Power | Bicameral Parliament composed of a House of Councillors (10 Members) and a House of Representatives (395 Members) |
| Judicial Power | Supreme Court or Court of Cassation (composed of 5 judicial panels organised into civil, family, commercial, administrative, social, and criminal sections) |
| Ambassador to Italy | Youssef Balla |
| Total Area kmq | 716.550 km2 |
| Land | 716.300 km2 |
| Weather | Mediterranean in the north, hot and dry desert in the south |
| Natural resources | Phosphates, iron ore, manganese, lead, zinc, fish, salt |
| Economic summary | Kingdom of Morocco recently strengthened economic relations with Europe because of a developed, diversified and open market, foreign investments and low labour costs. Morocco has increased the investments in seaport, transport and industrial infrastructure | |
| GDP | € 130.3 billion (2023) | |
| Exports | € 38.5 billion (2023) |
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| Export partner | Spain 21.7%, France 19%, Italy 4.96%, India 4.32%, Brazil 3.61%, United States 3.5% (2020) | |
| Imports | € 64.2 billion (2023) |
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| Import partner | Spain 19.5%, China 11.2%, Germany 5.26%, United States 5.2%, Türkiye 5.09%, Italy 4.73% (2020) | |
| Trade With Italy | € 4,760 billion (2023) |
| Population | 36.738.229 (2022) |
| Population Growth | 0,91% (2022 est.) |
| Ethnicities | Arab-Berber 99%, others 1% |
| Languages | Arabic (official), Berber (Tamazight (official), Tachelhit, Tarifit), French (the language of business, government, and diplomacy) |
| Religions | Muslims 99% (official; practically all Sunnis, <0.1% Shia), others 1% (includes Christians, Jews, and Baha'i); note - Jews about 6,000 |
| Urbanization | 64,6% (2022 est.) |
| Literacy | 73.8% |
Independent since 1952, after the end of the French and Spanish protectorates and the International Zone of Tangiers, the Kingdom of Morocco is located at the far northwestern end of the Maghreb region in North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to the east and Mauritania to the south. Its population is estimated to be 36.7 million people and is mainly composed of two ethno-linguistic groups, Imaziɣen and Arabs. Morocco is also home to the largest Jewish community in the Arab world. The country’s official languages are Arabic and Tamaziɣt.
Morocco’s political stability and its economic growth forecast make it stand out in the Maghreb region. For Italy, it is a strategic country and the intensification of relations between Rome and Rabat represents an opportunity for the entire Mediterranean area.
Italy is the third destination in Europe for Moroccan migrants, with the Moroccan community in Italy estimated at 450,000 people and growing. According to the World Bank, remittances from Moroccans living abroad reached 6.57 percent of the country’s GDP - its largest source of revenues after tourism.
Italy is Morocco’s sixth trade partner for both imports and exports, and it enjoys a positive trade balance. Over 252 Italian companies are currently present in the country. In 2019, Italy and Morocco signed a multidimensional strategic partnership. Some of the commitments taken include: political, diplomatic and intelligence cooperation; the management of regional and international challenges; the fight against international terrorism and crime; the consolidation of economic, trade and financial relations; the fight against irregular migration flows and human trafficking; and the strengthening of cultural and scientific cooperation.
Since 2008, the European Union has granted Morocco “advanced status", facilitating collaboration with European countries.
