Issue 396,
11 July, 2019
Article length: 594 words
Moroccan pivot to Africa highlights limits and opportunities
Royal Air Maroc’s daily flight from Casablanca to Conakry is packed as Guineans return home and business travellers arrive, including Moroccans meeting King Mohammed VI’s call to expand the kingdom’s commercial footprint south of the Sahara. The airline’s expansion to make Casablanca a major African transport hub is part of a wider strategy that has seen the big three Moroccan banks – Attijariwafa Bank, BMCE Bank of Africa and Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) – buying up African assets, phosphate giant OCP Group investing in Ethiopia and Nigeria, and plans for a gas pipeline linking Nigeria to the Mediterranean coast.
Morocco,
Royal Air Maroc,
Mohammed VI,
Attijariwafa Bank,
BMCE Bank of Africa,
Banque Centrale Populaire,
BCP,
Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy,
Economic Community of West African States,
West African Power Pool,
Abdelatif Jouahri