Since the United Kingdom officially left the European Union in 2020, London has sought different ways to strengthen partnerships with other partners that could offset the losses that Brexit might generate. In this context, Morocco has emerged as one of the most important allies, thus strengthening its position as a major partner in the North Africa and Maghreb region. Good evidence of this is the trade data between the two countries, which witnessed widespread growth during 2023.
In the first half of this year, the volume of trade between the United Kingdom and Morocco reached 3.4 billion pounds sterling, an increase of 661 million pounds sterling compared to data for the same period in 2022. But the intention is to push this growth much further, as stated by the British Treasury through Bim Afolami, the Government’s Economic Secretary, who emphasized trade and, above all, investment opportunities.
“The country is working closely with Morocco to maximize cooperation in a number of areas, including bilateral trade and investment.”Afolami says. Some words that are clearly supported by data, especially since the UK’s exit from the European Union. Since then, the volume of trade with Morocco has increased from 15.3 billion dirhams to 23 billion dirhams in just four years, according to figures provided by the Moroccan-British Partnership Council in February of this year.
Indeed, in December 2020, Rabat and London signed a global partnership agreement, which entered into force at the beginning of 2021. This was the first sign of intentions that clearly achieved its goal in light of the development of relations between the two countries. Numbers are no longer the only ones that show this reality, as the two parties do not hesitate to confirm their intention to increase communications and continue studying ways of cooperation.
In fact, one of the primary goals is the development of bilateral investment, something to which Morocco is attracting more and more attention. The Kingdom is working to expand its investment portfolio in various fields, paying special attention to cultural events within the framework of tourism, with a focus on Rabat. The Alawite capital will have important projects, such as the Grand Theater in Rabat or the Mohammed VI Tower, which will become the third tallest skyscraper in Africa.
All this, along with the support that Morocco provides for green energy, prompts many, like the United Kingdom in this case, to search for more agreements every day with the country headed by Aziz Akhannouch. Everything seems to indicate that this association, far from ending, will continue to grow by leaps and bounds.
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