First Independent Mena Newspaper
The Moroccan government expects to cut its budget deficit to 3% of GDP in 2026, from 3.5% this year, as it continues to pursue fiscal consolidation and structural reforms, finance minister Nadia Fettah Alaoui said. The government expects to narrow the deficit thanks to tax reforms, while maintaining support for strategic investments and social programs, […]
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s latest visit to Italy was meant to be a diplomatic breakthrough. Instead, it marked yet another chapter in a series of fruitless overtures that have come to define Algeria’s increasingly desperate foreign policy. Despite multiple visits to Rome in recent years and generous gas deals, Tebboune returned home empty-handed again. The Algerian […]
Three months after a massive power outage plunged the Iberian Peninsula into darkness, Portugal unveiled Monday a €400 million plan to reinforce its electrical grid—and floated the possibility of connecting to Morocco’s power network. Environment Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho announced 31 measures designed to prevent future blackouts, reassuring citizens that not all costs would […]
Morocco’s economic geography reveals a tale of two countries: thriving coastal hubs generating most national wealth while interior regions struggle with decline, according to new regional accounts from the High Commission for Planning. Casablanca-Settat remains the undisputed economic powerhouse, contributing 31.4 percent of national GDP and over a quarter of household consumption. Yet this dominance […]
In the scorching heat of Morocco’s Rif mountains, Abderrahman Talbi tends his cannabis plants without the fear that has haunted farmers here for generations. “I can now say I am a cannabis farmer without fear,” he tells Reuters. “Peace of mind has no price.” Two years after Morocco legalized cannabis cultivation for medical and industrial […]
The Sahel region, long a hub for trade between sub-Saharan Africa and the Maghreb, has now become a hotspot for illicit activities, with organized criminal gangs exploiting the instability caused by political unrest. Smuggling, human trafficking, and drug trade have flourished amid weak governance, fueling violence and displacement. In Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, the […]
Kenya and Uganda have secured a major legal victory after the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) dismissed a $2 billion claim filed by Rift Valley Railways (RVR) consortium over a terminated railway concession. The dispute stemmed from a 25-year agreement signed in 2006, granting RVR the right to manage and operate the 2,350-kilometer Kenya-Uganda […]
Twenty-six years ago, no one would have imagined that Morocco’s top exports would be cars. Morocco’s GDP, thanks to the King’s far-sighted approach, has more than doubled in a tough environment reaching some $130 billion, thanks to different economic policies spurred by the King, with the industry at its heart. Industry has helped Morocco reduce […]
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has become the latest battleground in a deepening strategic rivalry between the United States and China over control of critical minerals, as a new US-brokered peace deal with Rwanda raises both hope and concern. Signed in June 2025, the agreement aims to end decades of conflict between the DRC […]
Niger’s government has requested Morocco’s help for establishing a national airline carrier during a meeting held lately in Rabat between Moroccan Transport minister Abdessamad Kayouh and his Nigerien peer Abdourahamane Amadou. “Niger wants to benefit from Moroccan expertise to establish its national airline,” said the Moroccan minister citing the Kingdom’s experience in airports modernization and […]