Global Policy Institute: Morocco can play strategic role between U.S. business & Africa

Thanks to its successful development journey and deep insights into Africa, Morocco can play now the strategically critical role of bridge between U.S. business and Africa, says Global Policy Institute.

Commenting the latest U.S.-Africa Summit hosted by Marrakesh on July 19-22, Paolo von Schirach, President of the Washington-based Think thank, said the selection of Morocco for hosting the Summit was not an accidental choice but because the country developed and strengthened political and business ties with many countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

In his Op-Ed titled: “Business in Africa Goes Through Morocco”, Mr. Schirach, Chair of Political Science & International Relations at Bay Atlantic University, said Morocco has made serious efforts aimed at promoting economic and social development which included many privatizations.

Thanks to these efforts, Morocco becomes today a middle income country with state-of-the-art industrial parks, polytechnic universities and a multilingual, (Arabic, French and English), well-educated and young labor force.

There is a highly developed automotive sector in Morocco which is listed by the World Economic Forum as the most competitive economy in North Africa, says Chief of the Global Policy Institute.

Last but not least, Morocco leveraged its enormous phosphate deposits to develop OCP, a diversified fertilizer corporation that also provides advanced agriculture sector advisory services to the countries, mostly African, where it exports its products.

Furthermore, Morocco is a country that operates according to western free market principles and norms, adds Mr. Paolo von Schirach, stressing that the Moroccan economy is now connected to the US via a free trade agreement.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation, (MCC), a US Government agency recently signed an agreement with the government of Morocco leading to the financing of new industrial parks that will host promising Moroccan enterprises. Hence, Morocco is a serious partner that will attract additional US investments, while the country can also play a critical role as bridge and connecting point between America and the economies of the African continent.

Regarding the Marrakech Summit, the Pdt. of the Global Policy Institute said he is upbeat over the huge opportunities offered for U.S. investors in Africa and partnership with businesses in the Continent.

Organized under the Patronage of King Mohammed VI, the 2022 U.S.-Africa Business was attended by an important U.S. government delegation, several African ministers and major U.S. and African business leaders who discussed tripartite investment opportunities between the U.S., Morocco and Africa.