Moroccan Prime Minister Faces Conflict of Interest Allegations Over Desalination Contract

"He (Akhannouch) cannot remain at the head of the government and continue to do business with the Moroccans," lambasted Mustapha El Ibrahimi, a member of the Justice and Development Party (PJD) parliamentary group in the House of Representatives, during a conference organized by the Fqih El Tetouani Foundation. He therefore invited the head of government to sell his companies if he wishes to remain at the head of the government. After criticizing the award of the construction of a seawater desalination plant in Casablanca to Afriquia Gaz, a subsidiary of the Akwa Group, 67% owned by the Akhannouch family, and to the Spanish companies Acciona Agua S.A. and Green of Africa S.A., the elected official recalled that the company Maghreb Oxygène, belonging to the group of the head of government, achieved, in collaboration with a French company investing in the same sector, the largest turnover during the Covid-19 period.

El Ibrahimi’s remarks provoked reactions from Mohamed Ghiat, head of the National Rally of Independents (RNI) parliamentary group in the House of Representatives. Defending the president of his party, he considered that Akhannouch’s investments in Morocco constitute