This country profile was published in November 2010 in our annual 'Africa in 2011' issue. The next edition, 'Africa in 2012' will be on sale in November 2011.

contents :

> Country Profile

> Top Moroccan Companies

> Top Moroccan Banks

New party enlives debate

The arrival of a new party on Morocco’s once staid political scene has created a period of unprecedented dynamism. The Chamber of Counsellors, the upper house which was previously a reserve for rewarding apparatchiks, now crackles with debate. Two parties have ditched their leaders to try to keep pace. The new momentum is matched by a countrywide ­acceleration of economic progress. Far from being knocked by the global downturn, Morocco may even have benefited from European companies turning to cheap alternatives in the Mahgreb.

?The Parti de l’Authenticité et de la Modernité (PAM) burst on the scene in 2008, sweeping to victory in the municipal elections in 2009, then capturing the upper house and making a star out of the party’s Hakim Benchamach in the process. Supported implicitly by King Mohammed VI, whose friend Fouad el-Himma is one of the founders, the PAM has quickly taken up the progressive mantle. It is wooing the Union Socialiste des Forces Populaires and the Rassemblement National des Indépendants with an eye to creating a progressive block for the 2012 elections. This has prompted the Islamist Parti de la Justice et du Développement to begin a closely watched rapprochement with the rightwing Istaqlal, the largest block in the ruling coalition.

?There is not enough radicalism in the air to provoke a profound transformation in the political sphere, but the PAM has made it easier to avoid situations where the king is faced with a large Islamist block, a permanent worry. The relationship between state and religion has been strengthened in an attempt to defuse the radical teaching beamed in by Gulf state television channels. Millions of copies of a new Koran have been printed and distributed, imams are receiving better pay and a new channel dedicated to religion has been launched.

?As well as fears that urban poverty could fuel extremism, the resolution of the Western Sahara issue is the other difficult dossier on the sovereign’s to-do list, poisoning as it does the Union of the Arab Maghreb. November riots in tent camps near Laayoune made matters more complicated.

?The wider decentralisation policy has been marked by a greater emphasis on regional infrastructure. The government is planning a new high-speed train on the Casablanca-Tangiers route to link the new port at Tangiers to the country’s economic hub. Rabat also plans to add an estimated 1,800km of new roads over the next few years.

?Tangiers will be boosted by the opening of the Free Trade Zone and new port, with Renault-Nissan and others opening factories in the auto-manufacturing and parts sector.?

An exceptionally strong 2009 harvest and a good 2010 crop, thanks to a replenished water table, have given a healthy keel to an economy buffeted by a drop-off in European tourism and consumer demand. ?

State-led interventions to support the textiles industry and other manufacturers have largely worked.

However, the country remains worryingly dependent on the EU for its export markets, despite an attempt to broaden horizons. Growth should pick up to about 4.3% in 2011.?

Going forward, a government focus on private-sector development will be hampered without the passing of a tough overhaul of the legal system, including the strengthening of commercial courts under the new justice minister, Mohamed Naciri. Though the extension of credit to the private sector has been one of the success stories of the past few years, there are now concerns about the rising level of personal debt.

 

 

Morocco's Top Companies

 

Taken from the Top 500 Companies

 

Morocco's Top Banks

 

Taken from the Top 200 Banks

 

 

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