A recent analysis published on Thursday by the Atlantic Council, under “2025 Atlas: Freedom and Prosperity Around the World,” acknowledged that “Morocco has made notable progress toward economic transformation, but further efforts to balance its economic development are still needed.”
Authored by Rabah Arezki, former VP at the African Development Bank, former chief economist for the World Bank’s MENA region, and former head of commodities in the IMF’s research department, the report noted that “Morocco’s experience with economic development is unbalanced, with pockets of rapid growth, but pervasive poverty remains, especially in rural areas.”
Titled, “Morocco’s government must foster greater economic competition,” the paper explained that Morocco’s 2021 new development model aims to improve human capital and boost productivity, but explained that “economic growth remains tepid, poverty pervasive,” and relatively high debt limits government efforts to reduce spatial disparities and support vulnerable populations.
It explained that Morocco risks falling into a middle-income trap, with low growth and high poverty, which could worsen social tensions.
For this reason, the report highlighted the need to prioritize market structure and competition to boost productivity and create good jobs.
It further explained that barriers to affordable internet keep Morocco in the middle-income trap and widen urban-rural divides, adding that “slow tech adoption and lack of competition hinder productivity and limit trade and economic growth.”
The same source additionally mentioned that “unfair competition in Morocco, driven by markets dominated by connected firms, deters investment, reduces job opportunities, and stifles the potential of talented youth.”
It explained that this lack of fair competition is a key reason why Morocco, like other economies in the Middle East and North Africa, remains unresponsive.
The report said that Morocco has adopted a competition framework, but the limited independence of the competition authority weakens its impact on the market structure.
It concluded that like other MENA countries, Morocco lags behind in government transparency and data disclosure in critical areas, hindering efforts to foster competition and stimulate growth as well as job creation.
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