First Independent Mena Newspaper
Morocco welcomed a record 19.8 million international tourists in 2025, overtaking Egypt and consolidating its position as one of Africa’s leading tourism destinations, according to the OECD’s Tourism Trends and Policies 2026 report. The figure represents a 14% increase from 2024 and exceeds Morocco’s official target of 17.5 million visitors set under its 2023-2026 tourism […]
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has significantly increased its financial commitments to Mauritania, with its investment portfolio rising from $147 million to $659 million over the past three years. The $512 million expansion reflects a more than fourfold increase in support and underscores a deepening partnership between the AfDB and Mauritania. The funding is directed […]
The United States’ recent decision to reopen its market to Moroccan phosphate fertilisers is welcome commercial news for OCP Group — but, as editorialist of Aujourd’hui le Maroc argues, its significance extends well beyond the immediate commercial impact. For the author, the development primarily validates a decade-long strategic transformation at one of Morocco’s most important […]
Tunisia’s summer festival season is under threat after organizers said they could no longer obtain the foreign currency needed to pay international performers, raising the prospect of last-minute cancellations and contractual disputes. Lawyer Ahmed Ben Hassana told Tunisian outlet Webdo.tn that the commission overseeing foreign artists and the Ministry of Cultural Affairs were taken by […]
Morocco is embarking on a structural reform of its public budgeting process, introducing a formal system for identifying and tracking the environmental impact of government expenditure. The initiative, known as Climate Budget Labelling (Etiquetage climatique du budget, ECB), was formally launched by Prime Minister’s Circular No. 6/2026 of 23 April 2026 and will be applied […]
The World Bank has approved $265 million to support construction of a new pumped hydropower storage plant in northern Morocco. This clean energy project, one of the landmark infrastructures in Africa, will provide affordable electricity, improve the resilience of the national grid and create jobs. The Ifahsa Pumped Hydropower Storage Project is designed to strengthen […]
Morocco’s banking sector enters an AI-defined growth phase from a position of strength, according to the third edition of Boston Consulting Group’s Future of Finance 2026 report, which analyses the performance of nearly 1,500 financial institutions, including major African markets. In 2025, Moroccan banks recorded approximately 8 percent growth in their consolidated balance sheets, while […]
Morocco’s trade deficit widened 20.8% year-on-year to 160 billion dirhams ($17 billion) in the first five months of 2026 as rising imports outpaced export growth, but robust remittances from Moroccans living abroad and higher tourism receipts helped offset pressure on the country’s external accounts. Imports rose 11.8%, compared with export growth of 5.8% to 211 […]
Morocco’s National Agency for Water and Forests (ANEF) has secured more than €580 million in international financing for its “Forests of Morocco 2020-2030” strategy, with some €175 million — approximately 40 percent of total commitments, equivalent to 1.9 billion dirhams — already disbursed. The figures were disclosed at a high-level review meeting in Rabat on […]
Morocco has taken a significant step toward ending the fiscal free-riding of global digital multinationals on its market. On 11 June 2026, the Direction générale des impôts (DGI) launched a dedicated platform for the taxation of digital services, accessible through the SIMPL tax portal. The measure follows the publication of decree no. 2-25-862 in December […]