Morocco rises to fifth place in the world in the aviation industry and leads Africa
Over the past two decades, Morocco has achieved significant improvement in the aviation sector and as a result has been able to reinforce its ambition to assemble a complete aircraft within its borders, becoming Africa's largest exporter of aircraft equipment.
This is thanks to its ability to produce more than 40 key aircraft components, in addition to sensitive parts manufactured in just five countries around the world.
The director of Aviation, Railways, Naval Industries and Renewable Energies at the Moroccan Ministry of Industry and Trade, Afaf Saïdi, stated that Morocco is positioned as the leading manufacturer of aviation equipment and spare parts in Africa, ranking fifth globally among the most active countries in the aviation sector. Saïdi told the Moroccan News Agency that this achievement had been possible ‘after only twenty years of launching its first initiative in this sector’, highlighting Morocco's ability to adapt to the global market momentum.
The Director of Aviation also pointed to the sector's solid economic development, with growth of more than 3.8% during 2023. Also, the value of its exports reached 21.864 billion dirhams (dollar = 10 dirhams) as of last October, an annual increase of 17.3%. As a result, the sector currently offers more than 23,000 jobs with a local integration rate of 42%, a real success considering the economic challenges the world has witnessed in recent years. In this regard, the Minister of Industry, Ryad Mezzour, announced in July that Morocco aims to double employment in the sector by 2030.
This year has been key to strengthening developments in the Moroccan kingdom's aerospace industry, one of these being the hosting of the Morocco Air Show 2024 in Marrakech, which in turn has facilitated new strategic partnerships with industry giants such as Boeing, Airbus and Bombardier, which have established factories and engineering centres in the country. While Rabat remains focused on keeping pace with technological transformations through the development of research and innovation in order to improve its international competitiveness.
Morocco's achievements are reflected in the confidence in the investment environment; in October alone, the Spanish group Asiture, which specialises in the manufacture of aerostructures and engine parts, opened a new manufacturing plant in the ‘Midparc’ industrial zone of Nouaceur to create a dedicated facility for the manufacture of engine blades, resulting in an investment of more than 30 million dirhams. For its part, the port of Tangier Med has played a key role in supporting the growth of the sector through export operations.
Another important milestone was the opening of the Safran group's aircraft engine manufacturing plant in Casablanca, estimated to be worth 300 million dollars, with this new investment aimed at creating hundreds of jobs and accelerating the transfer of advanced technology.
Regarding the economic growth of the sector, Moroccan economist Idris Al-Fina, commented: ‘In the last two decades, Morocco has witnessed a remarkable dynamism in many strategic sectors, including the aerospace sector, one of Morocco's strengths, which had no real presence before 2010, and today is the second largest source of foreign exchange in the country, attracting more than 140 international companies working in this sector, contributing approximately 2.5 billion dirhams annually to the Gross Domestic Product,’ stressing that these achievements were thanks to the hard work to improve the investment climate.
Thus, Morocco has been able to build a solid foundation in the manufacturing of engine parts, composite materials and wiring connections, as well as the installation of aircraft structure parts, reinforcing the country's attractiveness as a preferred investment destination.
It has also seen a significant 18% increase in the sector's exports compared to the previous year, reaching 10.7 billion dirhams during the first five months of 2024. In turn, the sector has been supported by strategic alliances with international companies, such as SABCA Morocco, which inaugurated a new aeronautical structures assembly plant, and Gal Aerospace, which is dedicated to the development of components for aircraft cabins.
According to Afaf Saïdi, one of the proposed goals is to be able to manufacture an integrated aircraft by 2030 by expanding the sector's activities, strengthening collaboration with international partners and creating innovative and environmentally friendly solutions to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Although the sector's exports still represent a small percentage compared to key industries such as the automotive sector, steady growth shows promising dynamics that position Morocco as a candidate to excel in the aerospace industry and, eventually, possibly in space.