Despite Morocco's well known landscapes and cuisines, the country is becoming more appealing due to its growing role ininternational manufacturing. Morocco has become a major hub for international manufacturing especially in the automotive sector, being the top car exporter in Africa in 2023.

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Exports valued at 6.4 billion USD surpassing both South Africa and Djibouti. This has sparked endless interest from outside, as an example, this has resulted in 360 spanish companies relocating their production to Morocco and many more from elsewhere. Inditex, a leading textile company expected to indirectly create 95000 jobs in the country from its expansion to Morocco (Morocco World News). 

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Why is Morocco becoming a thriving hub for international manufacturing companies?

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Why is Morocco a growing hub for international manufacturing?

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Ideal Strategic Location in Africa: Morocco is less thana few hours from great European cities and Tanger MED port being one of the largest ports in Africa and the Mediterranean. It serves as a gateway to both Africa and The Middle East, facilitating seamless international trade (Trade.gov)

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Government Incentives and policies: Implemented policies from the Moroccan government allow Companies that are located in industrial zones receive investment subsidies, export incentives and are exempt from taxation. Resulting in significant reduction in operational costs for manufacturers (Trade.Gov).

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Modern Infrastructure: For many years, Morocco has focused on building modern infrastructure, including advanced transportation networks, industrial parks, and renewable energy resources, which today support the efficiency of manufacturing operations.(State.gov)

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Growing skilled workforce: As Morocco invests in specialized training programs, a well-educated and a constantly skilled workforce is available for industries such as automotive, aeronautics, renewable energy and others sectors (Hespress, Moroccoworldnews, Afd.fr)

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Political and economic stability: Being amongst the most politically stable nations in Africa, Morocco demonstrates a strong commitment to economic reforms that encourage foreign investment and industrial growth. Moroccoworldnews.

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Investment in Morocco's manufacturing and production sector.

Investing in Morocco's Manufacturing Sector

Morocco’s manufacturing industry is considered to be extremely attractive owing to the country’s geographic allocation as well as its government policies. Such undertakings have helped to create a good investment environment especially in areas like automotive, aeronautics, textiles, and renewable energy.

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The manufacturing segment is a valuable target for FDIs where 23.6% of FDI stock belongs as of 2021 (Statista). Countries including France, Spain and the UAE emerge as the major investors indicative of the strong economic status and relations plus trade interaction in Morocco (Trade.gov).

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Furthermore, the free trade agreement (FTA) signed between Morocco and the United States of America, the only one on the African continent, has given impetus to the American investments in the above-mentioned sectors (State.gov).

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China has also become one such country with large FDI volumes including companies such as Gotion High Tech which are set to open a $1.3 billion EV battery giga factory in Morocco followed by commitments from Hailiang and Shinzoom to open basic battery production sites (Reuters). This all emphasizes Morocco’s shifting importance to that of a manufacturing hub moving forward.

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Conclusion

Among all the African countries, Morocco has proven itself one of the best location for starting a manufacturing, and production business owing to its excellent advantage of strategic geographical location, and conducive policies. It is a highly lucrative area for foreign investors to venture into in terms of manufacturing and production.

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