Brain Drain Shift: Morocco’s Top Talent Flocking to North America and Germany

– bySaid · 2 min read
Brain Drain Shift: Morocco's Top Talent Flocking to North America and Germany

An opinion from the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE), published in 2022, makes a straightforward observation: the most qualified Moroccans in the world (MDM) are no longer leaving only for France or Belgium, but for Canada, the United States and Germany. An evolution that reflects a profound transformation of qualified Moroccan emigration.

The report is based on the results of the National Survey on International Migration of the HCP (2018-2019) to establish the distribution of qualification levels according to host countries. It appears that 76% of Moroccans settled in North America hold a higher education degree, compared to 48.9% in the former European immigration countries (France, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Italy) and only 10.9% in the new European countries.

In other words, the more distant the destination, the more qualified the profiles. A new migratory hierarchy has emerged: Canada attracts young graduates, the United States attracts scientific or technical profiles, and Germany captures a growing share of the workforce trained in Morocco, particularly in the fields of health and industry.

The CESE also notes that 74.1% of MDMs with a higher degree obtained it in Morocco, which confirms that the country is training local skills that it then loses to countries better equipped with reception structures, professional recognition and living conditions.

The document insists on the lack of a coherent public policy to respond to this dynamic. It recalls that the existing mechanisms (such as TOKTEN, Maghribcom or FINCOME) have not allowed a real mobilization of talents. Lacking clear governance, rigorous evaluation and institutional coordination, past experiences have not been capitalized on, and their impact has remained limited.

Furthermore, the report highlights the lack of visibility of Moroccan initiatives aimed at its skills abroad. Administrative obstacles, compartmentalization between ministries, and the absence of an updated directory of Moroccan experts in the world make it difficult to implement any return or even remote contribution strategy.

The CESE recommends several concrete measures:
• Introduce specific provisions in Law No. 63.21 on higher education and scientific research to promote the remote participation of Moroccan experts abroad.
• Create a public digital platform for the management of Moroccan skills internationally, in order to establish a bridge between the talents of the diaspora and the needs of the Moroccan market, particularly in the professions under pressure.
• Rely on public-private partnership to strengthen the tools for mobilizing, exchanging and enhancing skills.

Faced with this organized exodus, it is less a question of emigration than of institutional disconnection. Morocco trains, but does not retain. And for the talents who settle in Berlin, Toronto or San Francisco, the link with the country is maintained mainly on an emotional, occasional, or even symbolic level, due to the lack of structured levers to allow them to contribute sustainably to national development.