Abstract
Morocco is geographically positioned at the physical crossroads between the
Maghreb and Europe. Its
physical location plays a major part in the
development of the country’s infrastructure, as increasing the
transport and power links between the two regions remains a key priority. With
foreign investment
pouring into the country, both from its European
neighbours and the Gulf, Morocco’s infrastructure sector
has seen
increasing activity in recent years. In BMI’s Morocco 2009
Infrastructure Report, we forecast a
5.2% annual real growth for the
country’s construction, and by extension, infrastructure sector.
In
the transport sector, several large scale projects are underway to improve and
expand the country’s
ports, roads and rail networks. French and
Spanish construction majors, due to their strong ties with
Morocco and
expertise, have the lion’s share of these deals. Significant investment
is also going into the
country’s energy and utilities
infrastructure. Morocco depends on international financing institutions,
such as the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the private sector to take on
concessions. The
country, unlike its neighbours, lacks any hydrocarbon
reserves, and hence strives to exploit its renewable
energy potential.
European interest is extremely high, since it provides an attractive market
for European
companies that want to expand their activities in the
renewables. In addition, Morocco provides the key
link for power grid
interconnections and pipelines between Europe and the Maghreb.
Despite
Morocco’s positive record of strong economic growth in the past years,
important problems
remain concerning the country’s business
environment, such as difficult access to financing and
corruption. Morocco
ranks in 79th place in BMI’s global business environment rating. Even
though this is
the second highest rating among the North African
countries, after Tunisia, Morocco still needs to make
significant
improvements in order to attract the much needed involvement of the private
sector in its
infrastructure projects.
Our overall view for Morocco is
a positive one. Despite our concerns about the extent of the negative
impact of external factors, such as the credit crunch, on the country, our
outlook for Morocco remains one
of solid growth. For 2009, we forecast
that unemployment will go down to 9.0%, for the first time in the
past
five years, while growth is forecast to be 4.2%.
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