Moroccan Diaspora Remittances to Decline Amid Global Economic Crisis

"The Moroccan diaspora represents nearly five million people, of whom nearly 85% reside in Europe (the largest community is in France where 1.25 million Moroccans live). Money transfers from the diaspora therefore largely depend on the European economies. The economic slowdown in the euro zone is exacerbated by the consequences of covid-19 and the depreciation of the euro against the US dollar," explains the Franco-Moroccan expert, in an interview with Atlasinfo.

She states that France, like its neighbors, is bearing the brunt of the economic effects of covid-19, as its GDP fell by 5.8% between January and March 2020. "This unprecedented economic crisis will not fail to impact the volume of fund transfers which are crucial at this time of health crisis where foreign direct investment and tourism activities are virtually interrupted in Morocco," said the Senior Associate Fellow at the Institute for Statecraft (London) and the Timbuktu Institute (Dakar).

She notes that some Moroccans living abroad have been able to maintain their income. These are mainly those who were able to continue working and those whose country of residence has adopted measures guaranteeing the maintenance of their essential income (partial unemployment scheme in France, financial assistance to the self-employed, etc.) but "not everyone has been treated equally".

"The World Bank’s forecasts thus indicate a 19.6% decrease in remittances to the Middle East and North Africa region in 2020, while 2019 was marked by a 2.6% increase, it is reported. These transfers should reach $47 billion in 2020 for the MENA region. The decline in foreign direct investment should be more significant (over 35%)." The expert also states that the decrease in the amounts transferred will necessarily have an impact on the beneficiary households.