Morocco-United Kingdom: the strategic partnership that includes the southern provinces
- British investment in the southern provinces
- Visit of the UKEF chairman to Morocco
- Morocco, a key supplier for the UK
- Enhancing trade links
Bilateral relations between Morocco and the United Kingdom continue to strengthen in an ever-changing global context. Morocco has positioned itself as a key player, not only as a supplier of goods, but also as an attractive market for British exports.
The North African country is currently one of the UK's most important trading partners in the post-Brexit era. Furthermore, it has become an essential ally, due to its crucial role in African trade, as a standard bearer for sustainable development and industrial innovation.
In this vein, the UK and Morocco are seeking to strengthen their commercial ties, promoting British investment in Western Sahara through a strategic partnership that has promising long-term prospects.
British investment in the southern provinces
In response to a recent parliamentary question, the British Minister for Investment, Douglas Alexander, reiterated the UK Government's position on British investment in the southern provinces of Morocco, clarifying that ‘companies have to make their own decisions regarding their business in Western Sahara’.
This statement emphasises once again that British investors are free to operate, if they so wish, in the southern provinces of Morocco, in accordance with the Association Agreement between Morocco and Great Britain, which covers the entire Moroccan national territory, including the aforementioned southern provinces. This agreement reinforces the legal framework that allows British companies to invest safely in Western Sahara.
In this way, the United Kingdom continues to support the Western Sahara autonomy initiative proposed by Morocco as a lasting and mutually acceptable political solution. In this context, the British government has planned to invest 4.5 billion pounds sterling in Morocco, including Western Sahara, through UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK's export agency.
This investment commitment seeks to preserve the set of political, legal, economic, sectoral and territorial achievements made within the framework of a strong and lasting strategic partnership between Morocco and the United Kingdom. This allows Moroccan and British companies to engage in economic and commercial relations in all sectors of cooperation and in all regions of the North African country.
After the UK left the European Union following the Brexit referendum in October 2019, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita, and the British Secretary of State for International Development for the Middle East and North Africa, Andrew Murrison, signed an agreement that allowed the two countries to maintain a strategic partnership equipped with instruments of operational and institutionalised cooperation.
This agreement not only represents a mechanism for the conciliation and arbitration of differences, but also ensures access to the British market for all products originating from Western Sahara.
Visit of the UKEF chairman to Morocco
A visit by Tim Reid, CEO of UKEF, to Morocco is planned for the coming weeks to stimulate new export opportunities for British companies.
Reid is convinced that Morocco offers a wide range of opportunities for British companies in terms of energy transition, seawater desalination and infrastructure (railways, roads, ports and airports) to develop the national economy.
Morocco is the UK's 52nd largest trading partner in the world, accounting for 0.2% of the UK's total trade. This figure could improve in the coming years due to the continuous growth of economic relations between the two countries.
The intention to invest in Morocco is nothing new for the UK, as UK Export Finance announced in 2022 the mobilisation of 4 billion pounds sterling to stimulate investment between the two kingdoms.
Trade between the UK and Morocco reached 3.8 billion pounds in the period between the third quarter of 2023 and the second quarter of 2024, representing an increase of 10.9% compared to the same period the previous year.
Morocco, a key supplier for the UK
In the wake of Brexit, Morocco has become a key supplier for the UK: occupying the aforementioned 52nd position as a global trading partner. In 2024, the country became the UK's 45th largest supplier of goods, accounting for 0.3% of its total imports. And in 2025, it rose to 44th position in the British goods export market.
This dynamic, which demonstrates the increasingly important role of Morocco for British companies seeking to diversify their markets, is also reflected in an improvement in recent figures for exports and imports.
Thus, at the end of October 2024, there was a sharp increase in Moroccan imports from the UK, up 11.7%, while exports of goods to Morocco decreased by 6.9% compared to the previous year.
This disparity between exports and imports does not negate Morocco's strategic importance as a key supplier of goods and services to the UK on the African continent.
Enhancing trade links
The UK-Morocco trade partnership is characterised by strong growth and trade diversification. Despite some sectoral fluctuations, trade between the two countries has increased considerably in recent times, within the framework of a dynamic characterised by the diversification of exchanges.
Morocco offers a wide range of diversified products, from agricultural products to industrial equipment and services. The two countries maintain a solid cooperation that is increasingly consolidated in various strategic sectors, such as energy, automobiles, infrastructure and tourism.
According to the latest figures published by the UK Department of Trade and Business, bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to 48.5 billion dirhams in the second quarter of 2024, which represents an increase of 10.9% over the previous year.
According to the same source, British exports to Morocco have decreased by 4.1%, reaching 17.9 billion dirhams. This decrease is justified by the volatility of world markets and increased competition from other suppliers.
In contrast, UK imports from Morocco increased by 22%, reaching a total of 30.6 billion dirhams. Goods continue to be the main driver of this trade, accounting for 69% of UK exports and 63% of Moroccan imports.
The main British products exported to Morocco are refined petroleum (close to 4 billion dirhams), cars (over 1 billion dirhams) and metallic minerals (around 940 million dirhams).
In parallel, Morocco's exports to the UK are mainly based on agricultural and industrial products, with fruit and vegetables being the main product, totalling 6.4 billion dirhams, followed by electrical equipment with 4.8 billion dirhams and vehicles with 2.1 billion dirhams.
In this British-Moroccan commercial landscape, services play an increasingly important role in trade between the two countries. In 2024, UK imports of services from Morocco increased by 32.4%, reaching 11.55 billion dirhams.
In this sense, the tourism sector represents the majority of Moroccan exports to the UK, with 83.5% of the total value of exported services. The reason for this is the strong demand for tourism from the UK to Morocco, as well as the evolution of the services sector in Morocco, which is increasingly diversified and competitive.