Why is morocco important

Morocco is an important link between Europe and Africa — politically, culturally and economically. King Mohammed VI is both the head of state and the spiritual leader of this north African country, and has been since Following the wave of protests that swept through many Arab countries starting in December Arab Spring , demands for political and social reforms were also made in Morocco. Moroccans enjoy drinking mint tea sweetened with sugar.

The people take their time making tea and sipping it with family and guests. In the cities, the pace is a bit faster than in the countryside. Fifty-seven percent of the people live in cities such as Fez, Casablanca, and Marrakech, on the coastal plain. Mosques with beautiful towers called minarets, and bazaars are common in Morocco.

Medinas are the old medieval section of cities. Old fortresses called kasbahs are strong buildings built from palm-tree fibers and mud from the riverbanks. Children are required to be in school from ages , but many children work with their parents and are not able to attend school. Elephants and lions once wandered around Morocco, but they are gone forever. Reptiles like geckos , snakes, and chameleons are common, but most large mammals have disappeared. Today the most common are camels, sheep, goats, the Barbary macaque monkey, and wild boar.

The desert fox, desert hedgehog, and jerboa inhabit the desert. Morocco lacks the large oil or gas reserves that some other North African countries boast and it is a net energy importer. Domestic production may be boosted in the longer term by offshore oil and gas development, which has drawn in players including Chevron, Qatar Petroleum and BP.

The government is also committed to increasing usage of renewable energy sources, particularly solar power. The industry is managed by the formerly state-owned OCP S. The company has undergone restructuring in recent years to improve efficiency and sustainability.

It is a significant contributor to GDP and has a year plan to boost production from 34m tonnes in to 50m tonnes over the next 10 years.

Other mineral resources include silver, copper and gold. Major crops include cereals, citrus fruits, grapes and olives. Fish products are also a growing export earner, with major fishing ports and processing centres in El Jadida, Essaouira, Agadir, Safi and Larache.

The industry is facing challenges related to regional security, however. The population has more than tripled since , rising from The majority live in the more fertile, lower-lying north and along the Atlantic coast, where most major cities are found.

The population is growing at around 1. The national unemployment rate is also elevated, standing at 8. Remittances totalled Dh Diaspora investment in Morocco remains low, however, in part due to lack of political engagement: although the kingdom established five parliamentary constituencies for the diaspora in , they were eliminated in , and Moroccans living abroad are not permitted to vote in elections.

The official languages are Arabic and Tamazigh, commonly known as Berber. The latter became an official language in The Berber were among the indigenous people of the Maghreb before the Arab conquest.

Of the three factors which act as a brake to a faster rate of economic growth in Morocco, two have been around for a long time, the third is more recent. The greater pragmatism of Anglo-Saxon ways of thinking and managing are increasingly in evidence at OCP Group and other major banks and companies but much less so in the civil service.

Many Moroccan graduates choose to pursue international careers because they feel too constrained in their native country. The key point however is that overall the level of education of the mass of Moroccans remains very poor. This challenge is as old as independence but an unwillingness to confront the consequences are costing the country dear.

A generation ago, this mattered less but as Morocco begins to move up the value chain, open its economy more, strive to conquer new markets, it is turning into a major handicap. The likes of Attijariwafa Bank and Tanger-Med need highly trained specialists who speak fluent English. They often they have to resort to foreigners to fill the gap.

Indeed many French graduates are keen to work in Morocco as opportunities are fewer in France. Nonetheless the need for a Marshall Plan in education, at the very least a major push to train better qualified teachers and offer ordinary Moroccans a much better education than hitherto is becoming ever more pressing.

Quality education in primary and secondary schools, let alone at universities is more often than not private, and costs a lot. Nothing feeds popular resentment so much as the sight of chauffeur driven plush cars collecting well dressed youngsters outside the French schools. In the wake of the financial crisis of , King Hassan gave the green light to modernise the state.

Articulated by eminent public servants like Azzedine Guessous, Minister of Trade, Mohammed Berrada, Minister of Finance, and Abdellatif Jouahi who held a string of appointments in the state and private sector, Morocco was dragged into the late 20 th century. By November when the whole world seemed to meet at the Casablanca conference which brought together Israeli and Arab companies face to face, Morocco basked in universal approval.

Of course, the fact that neighbouring Algeria was slipping into civil war made the regional contrast even greater. Twenty years later however, the Moroccan state remains cumbersome as successive governments have failed to offer serious inducements to recruit well educated younger Moroccans. Many civil servants are poorly educated and badly paid, a sure recipe for widespread corruption.

Not all Moroccan institutions are typical of the isomorphic mimicry described earlier - notably the central bank, Bank al Maghrib, and the Haut-Commissariat au Plan whose reports put their finger on real issues. For all that, the debate on economic and strategic issues often remains hidebound: a more public debate on the real economic, social and foreign trade issues which confront Morocco remains a prerequisite to faster modernisation.

The fact that most free trade agreements Morocco has signed with foreign countries have results which are detrimental to Moroccan industry, notably in the important textile industry is seldom discussed. Certain reforms appear to achieve the exact opposite of what they set out to do. The directorate of foreign investment at the Ministry of Finance worked reasonably well.

Special representatives were appointed in major European capitals, at great expense, only to be recalled as their prerogatives were handed over to Moroccan embassies. Reforming the court system is another imperative if Morocco is serious about joining the 21 st century.

An arbitrary legal environment penalises. On the broader economic front, the government has enacted some necessary reforms like abolishing subsidies on oil and gas — helped by the sharp fall in the price of a barrel since last autumn. But more needs to be done. Domestic investors are given official support if they are large enough to warrant access to the key decision makers in government.

Otherwise they have to fight the bureaucratic maze of regulation and, often, corruption, especially at the local level. A new breed of provincial governor is emerging such as Mohammed Hassad, the current minister of the Interior who played a key role when he was posted as governor to Tangier in and Marrakesh in Such men are much better educated and interested in economic development than their predecessors. Too many officials at a local and regional level however are not well educated, notably on economic matters.