Moroccan exports: the automotive industry becomes number one and surpasses phosphates

Morocco "now achieves nearly 15 billion euros in automotive exports," said Gilles Abensour, CEO of Saint-Gobain Morocco, on the sidelines of the panel on "financial excellence as a lever of stability" during the Quality Leaders Summit. With this performance, the automotive industry has become the country’s leading export sector. It surpasses phosphates - "long the backbone of foreign exchange earnings" - by 50%, according to Le360.

"To say today that a sector created only ten years ago exports more than phosphates shows how much Morocco has succeeded in building a new and dynamic industry," comments Abensour. This historic performance is explained by a rapid adaptability, reinforced by targeted public policies and increasing integration into European value chains. It is the result of Renault’s installation in Tangier and the gradual arrival of equipment manufacturers in the Atlantic Free Zone, but also of the industrial strategy, the implementation of acceleration zones, monetary stability and a clear orientation by the royal vision. Not to mention the reconfiguration of global value chains and the strengthening of industrial policy.

Today, Morocco produces nearly 4 million windshields, for a domestic market of 500,000 to 600,000 vehicles, according to the same source. To these efforts is added the energy advantage. Law 13-09 facilitates industrial access to renewable energies. "More than 80% of our energy is wind and 5 to 10% photovoltaic," Abensour said. This allows for the supply of decarbonized production lines that meet European standards.