France’s Sahara Stance Boosts Moroccan Businesses

At the end of July, France officially recognized the Moroccanness of the Sahara. In a message addressed to King Mohammed VI commemorating the 25th anniversary of his enthronement, French President Emmanuel Macron said he considered "that the present and future of the Western Sahara are part of the framework of Moroccan sovereignty." He had assured the Moroccan sovereign of "the intangibility of the French position on this issue of national security for the kingdom." France "intends to act in coherence with this position at the national level and internationally," he had added.

Nearly two months later, French companies are benefiting from the change in Paris’ position on the Sahara issue. "France clearly has the wind in its sails again," enthuses a French company executive present on the spot, on condition of anonymity, with Le Figaro. He claims to have noticed it during recent tenders won in Morocco by French companies.

The strategic market for project management assistance for the ONCF for the extension of the High Speed Line to Marrakech was awarded to the Egis-Systra-Novec consortium, led by the French Egis Rail. It won this contract by offering 1.385 billion dirhams against 1.309 billion dirhams for Ineco, i.e. nearly 80 million dirhams more. The Sade-CGTH group, specialized in construction and infrastructure, has also won a tender for a water network connection project in Dakhla.

"There will surely be a development and acceleration of economic cooperation between the countries, particularly in the Moroccan Sahara," is convinced the president of the Morocco-France friendship group in the Moroccan Senate, Mohamed Zidouh. French entrepreneurs do not hide their happiness to see Rabat and Paris getting closer. Large Moroccan economic players "are starting to knock on our door again" for partnerships in the country, testifies a French entrepreneur on condition of anonymity. "We were keeping a low profile for two years. [...] It was not in our interest to highlight our nationality," confides Étienne Giros, president of the French Council of Investors in Africa (Cian).

"In terms of public procurement, during this period, it may have been a bit more complicated," notes Jean-Charles Damblin, general manager of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Morocco. Overall, "we did not see a marked slowdown" in economic relations due to the diplomatic tensions of recent years, he assures. This is evidenced by trade exchanges that reached a record of 14 billion euros last year.

France is the leading foreign investor in Morocco with almost all of the CAC 40 companies represented in the kingdom, and 1,000 French subsidiaries, particularly in construction and assembly plants (automotive, aeronautics), while the kingdom is, for its part, the leading African investor in France, with direct investments increasing from 372 million euros in 2015 to 1.8 billion in 2022, it is specified.