Morocco marks 27 years of economic transformation under King Mohammed V

Morocco’s economy has undergone a broad structural transformation since King Mohammed VI took the throne in 1999, driven by industrial expansion, major infrastructure projects and wider social protection, economists told Hespress ahead of the 27th Throne Day anniversary.

Researchers said the country had moved beyond a traditional growth model toward a more diversified economy with stronger industrial, logistical and continental ambitions.

They pointed to the development of automotive and aerospace manufacturing, port and transport infrastructure, renewable energy, phosphate-based industries and Morocco’s expanding commercial presence across Africa.

The gains have been accompanied by declining poverty and broader social programmes, although economists warned that weak productivity, recurring drought and shortcomings in education and employment continued to constrain growth.

Industrial and infrastructure expansion

Economic analyst Rachid Sari described the period as an era of large, integrated strategies covering industry, ports, water, mining and African cooperation.

He said successive industrial plans had helped Morocco become one of Africa’s leading manufacturing economies, particularly in automotive production and processing industries.

The phosphate sector also expanded beyond exports of raw materials. OCP Group developed fertilizer operations and partnerships across Africa, including planned or operating projects in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire.

Sari also highlighted port development, desalination plants, new dams and water-transfer infrastructure as part of Morocco’s attempt to address long-term water stress while supporting cities, industry and agriculture.

He said Morocco’s Atlantic Initiative and the planned Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline reflected a wider strategy to connect Sahel countries with Atlantic ports and strengthen Morocco’s economic role in West Africa.

The southern provinces development programme, launched in 2015, also channelled more than 100 billion dirhams into roads, ports, services and other infrastructure, he said.

Social gains and stronger growth

Sari said poverty had fallen from more than 16% in the early 2000s to around 2.8%, while the National Initiative for Human Development and the expansion of social protection had improved access to support for vulnerable households.

He also cited government and planning-agency forecasts pointing to economic growth of more than 5% in 2026, with the 2030 World Cup expected to accelerate construction, tourism and infrastructure investment.

Morocco’s gross domestic product could exceed $200 billion before the end of the decade if current investment and growth trends continue, he said.

Productivity remains the central challenge

Economist Abdelkhalek Touhami said Morocco’s economic structure, exports and human development indicators were significantly stronger than they had been at the start of the century.

However, he said growth remained vulnerable to drought because agriculture continued to influence employment, rural incomes and domestic demand.

The economy had also absorbed successive external shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic, wars and wider geopolitical disruption, making some targets under Morocco’s 2035 development model harder to reach.

Touhami said the next decade should focus on raising productivity and improving the ability of Moroccan companies to compete internationally.

He called for a fundamental reform of education and vocational training, arguing that limited coordination between schools, universities and the labour market continued to undermine employment and business competitiveness.

Morocco must also expand export success beyond the automotive and aerospace industries by improving productivity in weaker sectors, he said.

The country’s progress since 1999 provides a stronger economic base, but sustaining it will depend on whether investment can generate better education, more jobs and higher productivity before 2030 and 2035.