Morocco Accelerates, Spain Looks in the Rearview Mirror

Goodbye phosphates, hello cars. For the first time, the kingdom is earning more money exporting vehicles than selling its mineral resources. This is a major turning point for Rabat, which is now establishing itself as the most dynamic industrial engine in the Mediterranean basin.

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The numbers speak for themselves: Morocco’s GDP should grow by 4.4% in 2026 and 4.5% in 2027. This momentum, driven by massive infrastructure investments, allows the country to outpace European producers like Poland or Hungary. As El Economista points out, Morocco has become the leading exporter of cars to Europe, ahead of giants like China and Japan.

Abdelmalek Alaoui, economist and author of "Morocco, the Challenge of Power," explains this success: "Africa’s future will not be written by countries waiting for perfect conditions, but by those who know how to exploit their heritage to become models." With a capacity of 960,000 vehicles per year and 270 suppliers, the kingdom has built a genuinely high-performing ecosystem.

This transformation is directly benefiting the population. Multidimensional poverty has collapsed, falling from nearly 12% in 2014 to 6.8% in 2024. The country is banking on its political stability and competitive wage costs to attract global players like Renault, Stellantis, and Chinese electric battery manufacturers.

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Rabat is already looking further ahead with a goal of two million vehicles produced annually by 2030. The government is also accelerating in artificial intelligence. The plan is ambitious: inject 10 billion dollars into the digital economy and train 200,000 specialists to firmly anchor the country in modernity.