This ambition comes already on the ground

The Morocco is a tree whose roots plunge in Africa and who breathe through its leaves in Europe. "King Mohammed VI has endorsed this sentence of his father, Hassan II. And today, the Moroccan tree grows very high speed. At the rate of large sites, whether Highway, TGV, industrial platforms or port and airport infrastructure. Kick billion dirhams, the country is "at the speed of the world", summarizes the Minister of economy, Salah Eddine Mezouar. A country which changes at sight of eye. In developing, on the one hand, on its territory; on the other, providing for national strategy to export its own model to the whole of the continent.

In the first place for economic reasons. To the North, there is Europe's largest trading partner of the country. But "The Morocco suffers soft European growth," observed Hakim Ben Hammouda, Director at the world Organization of the trade (WTO). And in these circumstances, "a restructuring of the global map is preparing", prevents Salah Eddine Mezouar. To develop, in which direction to turn the Morocco

To the East "More things done, the Algeria closes on itself, is the Minister for the economy. She needs an external enemy, and this is the Morocco. "Indeed, the business with the neighbour is most sensitive. Mohamed El Kettani, the pattern of the first Moroccan financial group, Attijariwafa bank, wants yet tenacious. Three and a half years, it waits for a response from the Algerian authorities its request for approval to open a branch in the country. "It is still under study," says he. Rejected, or approved... "Others bypass the difficulty, such as the agricultural group Tazi (GAT), one of the leaders of the Moroccan tomato. "Our products are exported to the France then re-exported to the Algeria", explains the Director of the strategy, Younes Zrikem.

Axis Tangier-Marrakech

To the North, a growth in Bern; to the East, difficult relations with the Algeria. Salvation therefore turn to the South! This is the credo of Moroccan employers, who wants to make Africa its "second strategic partner" after Europe. As in ECHO to the Royal policy. By 2000, while the Morocco is not a member of the African Union - due to disagreement on the Sahara-, Mohammed VI sets out to seduce his "African brothers." At the Europe - Africa of the Cairo Summit, it cancels the debt of the least developed countries of the continent and relieves their products from customs duties on the entry on the Moroccan market.

Ten years later, on April 30, 2010, in Casablanca, in the heart of the business, a floor of Ministers and more than 500 business leaders invade the Hyatt Regency Hotel. For what Mohamed El Kettani called the "African Davos". "You are building Africa!" they launched. "We have the same problems of development, fight against illiteracy and poverty than other African countries," he says today. Then, that we have developed in the Morocco may be duplicated in Senegal, Mali, Gabon, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and elsewhere.

To expand its exports, the Morocco goes in order of battle. Highways, ports and other infrastructure grow like mushrooms. In ten years, the volume of public investment in transport was multiplied by four, reaching EUR 11 billion in 2010. On 21 June, to me Zoudia, in the province of Chichaoua, prince Moulay Rachid inaugurates the new link between Marrakech and Agadir, thus finalizing the last link in the North-South axis connecting Tangier to Marrakech on more than 750 kilometres. Four years of work and 8 billion dirhams (709 million euros) of investment. The highway opened a new perspective to the South...

The Morocco is also passionate about large industrial and logistic areas. Example: the new town of Zenata, in the suburb of Casablanca. He has built the largest hub of the country, 323 hectares. The establishment has been carefully studied: gridded to the North by the coastal road Mohammedia-Casablanca and South by two motorways, the zone will be crossed by the Casablanca-Rabat railway line. "We design the Morocco as a country of exchange of goods, says Minister of transport Karim Ghellab Ministers." Logistics is one of the battles that we impose globalization.

A model export

But the best way to take foot in sub-Saharan Africa is still to establish directly... Attijariwafa bank understood it. Holding 66 of the capital of the senegalo-Tunisian Bank TSB, 51 of the shares of the International Bank of Mali and after having returned the four African ex-filiales of the Crédit Agricole, it displays a clear strategy towards the South. Like its rival BMCE Bank, which has invested in a dozen African countries.

The ambition of the Morocco is not limited to goods and services. The country seeks to "sell know-how electrification, access to drinking water, construction of dams, road and rail infrastructure, telecommunications and new technologies", explained last may, a report by the Moroccan Ministry of economy and finance. To conclude that "it is therefore all a model of economic development that our country intends to export on the African continent."

This ambition comes already on the ground. In the North of Senegal, for example, region qualified agricultural breadbasket of the country, the project for the electrification of rural areas won by the national agency of electricity (ONE) of the Morocco there is much hope. In 2012, the 20,000 households in the departments of Dagana, Podor and St. Louis should have access to electricity. "The average electrification rate is 20 in Africa." "However, the challenges that this represents in terms of stability and security are essential," welcomed the patron of the Moroccan Agency for solar energy, Mustapha Bakkoury.

In the field of infrastructure, the CCGT group has he directed the development of an agricultural area in Guinea. But it is in Senegal, still, he won his largest construction: the construction of a 230 kilometre road. In the mining area, the Moroccan company Managem signed a few weeks ago, a convention to exploit Bakoudou gold mine, in the Haut-Ogooué province in southeastern Gabon. An area in full development, rich in manganese and uranium. Used is also present in ores in Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

Triangular cooperation

This is not all: Vivendi subsidiary, Morocco Telecom, is also located in Mali, Burkina Faso, Gabon, and aims of other conquests. "The Morocco is an exceptional basis for development in Africa, launched the President of the Supervisory Board of Vivendi, Jean-René Fourtou, before patterns gathered at the headquarters of the Medef, on 2 July in Paris. If you want to go there, come see us, we will help you! "Stating that"Moroccan managers are much better than the French to succeed implementation."

The role of "hub regional and hyphen between Europe and Africa;" "assist French companies to develop in Africa", the pattern of Moroccan patterns Mohamed Horani wants. Moroccan Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi, crossing the week passed in Paris, not said anything by calling his greeting "franco-marocain partnership for the development of Africa". Ambition also brought by Mohammed VI, for which it is deepening "the triangular cooperation for the benefit of third African populations".

No question therefore turn back to old Europe. "Europe and the Morocco will not divorce!" confirmed the head of the French economic services to Morocco Dominique Bocquet, at a symposium at the French Institute of international relations (Ifri), June 14. First, because South-South trade developed - among others - with the support of the European Union. But also because that "countries South of the Sahara have large difficulties," said the representative of the WTO, Hakim Ben Hammouda. ". African growth course again, but it remains fragile.

Thus, if trade between the Morocco and the rest of Africa have more than tripled between 1998 and 2008, from $ 240 million to 800 million euros with a surplus of over 223 million, they represent yet only 1.7 of the total of trade in the country. And even if the Morocco multiply by two by 2015, it remains far from the relationship with Europe: it represents more than half of its trade.