Morocco and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) signed an agreement in Marrakech. The deal is worth $1 billion. It aims to boost trade and investment between Morocco and African financial institutions. This program will span three years.
Morocco’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fettah Alaoui, represented the kingdom. Afreximbank’s President, Benedict Oramah, signed for the bank. This will enable Morocco to enhance its trade within and beyond Africa. It supports its export strategy and offers technical assistance to African investors. The goal is to multiply trade and foster investments.
The collaboration covers trade financing within and outside Africa. It includes credit implementation, risk-bearing, trade information, and consultancy services. The program also promotes ties, missions, information exchange, and capacity-building, as stated in an Afreximbank report reviewed by “Alarabiya.net”.
Notably, Morocco’s Minister in charge of Budget, Fouzi Lekjaa, announced that the government will resume subsidy reductions when international market conditions allow.
The Moroccan government reduced fuel subsidies in 2015, a move praised by the International Monetary Fund. However, it continues to control prices of soft wheat, cooking gas, and sugar.
Morocco initiated a national registry to identify households in need of direct support, as a precursor to phasing out subsidies. Lekjaa stated, “Morocco will resume subsidy reform based on international market conditions.”
He added that subsidy reform is always a priority but geopolitical context hampers price predictions. Morocco’s spending on subsidies until July was 17 billion dirhams ($1.7 billion), down 32% from the previous year, when annual subsidy costs soared to 42 billion dirhams ($4 billion) due to rising soft wheat and butane gas prices.
Lekjaa mentioned that the government expects the fiscal deficit to drop to 4% in 2024 from the 4.5% projected for the current year. He emphasized that maintaining economic macro balances is a strategic goal for public finance, especially after a recent earthquake in the Atlas Mountains that claimed nearly 3,000 lives and affected 2.8 million people.
Lekjaa added that reconstruction efforts will positively impact growth. The earthquake mainly affected subsistence farming, which will be compensated by other sectors like tourism.
