UK Seeks Stronger Partnership with Morocco in Post-Brexit Africa Strategy

According to Stephanie Al-Qaq, director of the Middle East and North Africa department at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, her first visit to Morocco is motivated by the desire to strengthen London’s strategic relations with its economic partners in the world. During the press conference, organized at the residence of the new British ambassador to Morocco, Thomas Reilly, the director of the MENA department acknowledged having been seduced by Morocco’s involvement and commitment in Africa. This reinforces a desire to work more with the Kingdom in Africa, she assures.

"We are not interested in trade alone; we want an expansive partnership, and that has to go both ways," the director specified, while noting the "enormous opportunities" and the role that Morocco can play in terms of trade in the region. "I see there is so much potential for growth in our partnership; I’m really excited and I think we’ll have a lot of opportunities [...] Our trade partnership has not reached its full potential and that’s what we’re looking to develop," she added.

Aware of the volume of trade (which does not exceed 4% of total trade with the European Union), Stephanie Al Qaq promises to intensify it: "We expect to see this figure increase." Trade between London and Rabat amounted to more than 18.3 billion dirhams in 2018, with exports valued at 8 billion dirhams, making the United Kingdom Morocco’s 7th customer and 11th supplier, reports Hespress.

The guest of Morocco has also approved the possibility of greater export of Moroccan agricultural products to Great Britain, particularly with tomatoes, olives and citrus fruits. According to the same source, these products were the subject of competition within the European Union and were privileged to the detriment of Moroccan agricultural products that suffered limitations.