FDI destined for Morocco shrinks by a third

Fall of foreign direct investment (FDI)! In its edition of the day, The Economist finds that the net flow (revenues and expenditures) of Morocco fell by 33% in the first half, to 10 billion dirhams.For the moment, it is difficult to attribute this decline , as the daily asserts, the boycott suffered by Centrale Danone, scrutinized by international business circles

Morocco seems caught up by the decline in FDI globally, over the past two years, although the trend is expected to reverse, although global flows remains marginal. "They will remain below the average of the last ten years."

That said, the paper notes that the country has achieved a performance of 24%, at the level of FDI, in 2017, while the Africa region recorded a decline of 23% following the decline in yields. The Economist estimates that a poor performance in 2018 would be only the second in nine years.

Dividend outflows are also among the factors reducing FDI. The newspaper talks about an average amount of 12 billion dirhams of dividends transferred abroad over the last eight years. Fortunately, in the first five months of the year, only 1.3 billion dirhams were recovered. But beware, it will add the 3.5 billion dirhams from the payments of Maroc Telecom to Etisalat and LafargeHolcim Morocco to its foreign shareholders. Not counting transfers for technical assistance, an indirect channel of FDI compensation, which is around 10 billion dirhams annually.

The economic situation of Morocco's main partners is certainly at the root of the decline in FDI destined for it in the first half of the year. If France remains the largest investor in Morocco through its commitments in the car, investments from the European Union are on a downward trend. Conversely, the Gulf countries are strengthening. As a result, the UAE has become the second largest investor in the last four years, ahead of the United States and Saudi Arabia. That said, the newspaper says that the impact on the economy of its investments differ. "European capital is mainly in industry, so the Gulf countries are investing in real estate first."