According to the World Bank, the Alaouite economy is the only one that has managed to continue growing against its competitors

Marruecos se mantiene como la quinta potencia económica de África

A factory employee works on a car assembly line at Kenitra PSA's car assembly plant - A factory employee works on a car assembly line at Kenitra PSA's car assembly plant

Atalayar

14 de julio de 2020 (15:44 h.)

Tags

The latest ranking published by the World Bank places Morocco as the fifth economic power on the African continent, after Nigeria, which leads the ranking, South Africa, Egypt and Algeria. However, the Kingdom is the only one of the five nations whose GDP has continued to grow, reaching its peak in 2019, the entity revealed. Currently, its economy is valued at 118.72 billion dollars, while Nigeria's reaches 448.12 billion, South Africa's 351.43 billion, Egypt's 303 billion and Algeria's 169.98 billion.

In general, the ranking shows that the richest countries in Africa are those with significant natural resources, such as oil and natural gas and other minerals, such as cobalt, diamonds, uranium, silver, bauxite, iron or phosphates. The five most powerful economies of the continent have managed to maintain their positions despite the innumerable challenges they have had to face, all of them eclipsed by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. "In addition to the impact of the price of a barrel of oil on the growth of the GDP of certain countries, it is also necessary to highlight the effects of the depreciation of certain African currencies against the dollar, which has had a strong impact on the GDP of many countries on the continent," explains Le 360 from the local environment.

The emergence of COVID-19 on the global stage has meant that the GDP of almost all the African continent's powers will experience a significant decrease in 2020, according to the publication. The most affected will be those that depend to a great extent on crude oil and basic products, such as Nigeria, South Africa, Algeria and Angola, which have already entered into recession.

In the specific case of Morocco, the World Bank highlights that it has managed to maintain its position thanks to the dynamics of its economy, which has been diversifying in recent years towards sectors such as the automobile, aeronautics, offshore, etc., although it continues to depend fundamentally on the export of raw materials. In addition, it highlights that the tourism, telecommunications and banking sectors are becoming increasingly important for the Moroccan economy.

Another point in the Kingdom's favour is that it is the only one of the five most powerful countries in Africa that has a "relatively solid" currency, due to its anchorage in strong currencies such as the euro and the dollar, while in the other nations, their national currencies have suffered devaluations or have been sharply depreciated in recent years. "It is the only country in this top 5 that continues to create value," Le 360 says.

The publication of this ranking coincides with the announcement that the Moroccan government has begun negotiating with the World Bank a $300 million loan for the implementation of a program aimed at improving the performance of the public sector, through the modernization of the tax administration, the management of public procurement and the use of data to develop evidence-based policies, according to local media Le Matin.