United States becomes Morocco's main foreign investor in 2022

Good relations between Morocco and the United States go beyond the political and diplomatic sphere. In addition to the strong security and defence partnership, the two countries have strong economic and commercial ties. So much so that US investments accounted for more than 30% of foreign investments in Morocco in 2022.

Last year, the American power became the leading foreign investor in Morocco, with projects totalling 7.4 billion dirhams ($761 million), up from 692 million dirhams ($71 billion) in 2021. 

These data, published by Morocco's foreign trade watchdog, Office d'Echange (OE), reveal that the United States has overtaken France as the leading foreign investor in the Kingdom. The European nation is now in second place, with 3.3 billion dirhams ($339 million) invested in Morocco during 2022, a sharp drop from the 7.4 billion dirhams ($761 million) recorded the previous year. 

On the other hand, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and the Netherlands are the next highest investing nations in Morocco in 2022, according to data from the report. British investments reached 2.9 billion dirhams ($298 million), followed by Emirati investments of almost 2.5 billion dirhams ($257 million) and those from the Netherlands, which accounted for some 1.54 billion dirhams ($154 million). 

These three countries, along with the United States and France, account for 80.8 per cent of foreign investment in Morocco in 2022. The sectors that attracted the most foreign investors were manufacturing (43%), real estate (25%) and finance and insurance (11%).

The Moroccan Kingdom is experiencing a strong increase in private investments thanks to the new Investment Charter adopted at the end of 2022, which aims to reach 550 billion dirhams of investment by 2026. Several regions, such as the Sahara and the north, are attracting a high number of projects. While the southern provinces are positioning themselves as an ideal destination for solar energy, the northern region, Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima, is consolidating as a key focus in the industrial sector.

Americas Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra