Money transfers: Morocco launches the offensive

– bySaid · 2 min read
Money transfers: Morocco launches the offensive

Morocco is taking the lead in a diplomatic revolt at the WTO to stop the financial hemorrhage of migrants. With fees reaching 8.37% in sub-Saharan Africa, the Kingdom wants to impose a drastic reduction in commissions that deprive families of vital billions of dollars.

African workers pay a heavy price to help their relatives who remain in the country. World Bank data reveal an expensive anomaly: sending money to sub-Saharan Africa costs an average of 8.37% of the amount, a rate well above the global average of 6.65%. This deduction even exceeds 15% on some internal corridors on the continent, remaining very far from the 3% target set by the Sustainable Development Goals.

Rabat rejects this status quo and is mobilizing the African Group. The Kingdom is preparing a draft ministerial declaration for the 14th WTO Conference scheduled for March 2026, reports Le Matin. The ambition is to obtain an official mandate to establish concrete measures of multilateral cooperation. The initiative aims to make financial flows more transparent and remove the obstacles that maintain these prohibitive rates.

The economic stakes go far beyond international aid. Between 2013 and 2022, the diaspora has injected nearly $870 billion into Africa, or one and a half times the volume of foreign investment and public aid combined. In Morocco, these remittances represent 8% of GDP and fill more than a third of the trade deficit. Preserving this resource requires modernizing infrastructure: the Moroccan plan advocates for the interoperability of payment systems and digitalization in order to stimulate competition and reduce the bill for the 184 million migrants around the world.