North African countries become an strategical market partners where the mediterranean sea play an important role for the commerce between East and West
Morocco
Morocco is not only famous for its vibrant culture, superb cuisine and awe-inspiring landscape but also its friendly business environment. The greatly enhanced operating environment has served Morocco well to become a favourable position as a financial hub and platform from which European countries can access the African market. Between 2011 and 2019, Morocco climbed from the 114th place to the 60th place in the Ease of Doing Business ranking, indicating sustained improvements to the business climate.
The central bank of the Kingdom of Morocco expects a 1.5% and 1.7% expand in 2022. Tourism and manufacturing are expected to be the key growth drivers of the economy. The manufacturing sector is also expected to benefit from substantial foreign investment into the autos and aeronautics industries.
In less than ten years, the North African country is ranked 53 among 190 economies in the ease of doing business, according to the latest World Bank annual ratings has gone from 114th to 53rd on the ease of doing business rankings. Morocco has become Europe’s pathway to Africa, also becoming a leading financial hub in the process.
Tunisia
Presently the 78th country on the ease of doing business ranking, Tunisia boasts an 80% literacy rate, one of the highest in the world. The North African nation also has one of the youngest populations globally, with the average Tunisian in the 18-25 age bracket. This implies that there are numerous educated young workers in Tunisia whose energy and resources can be channelled towards productivity.
Tunisia is predominantly an Arabic speaking country. Nonetheless, many of the people also speak French and English fluently.
Egypt
Egypt snatched first position from South Africa in the 2018 investment attractiveness index by Rand Merchant Bank, one of Africa’s leading diversified financial services provider. Since North Africa’s largest economy recovered from the Arab Spring, it started implementing an economic reform programme backed by a $12 billion (Dh44bn) loan from the IMF in late 2016. Under the programme, the country introduced new taxes and floated the currency with the intention to overhaul the economy, boost investor confidence and restore stability to capital markets.
The country had fallen six places in the World Bank’s “Doing Business Report 2018” but was quick to issue some policy announcements in the weeks after the publication. Those reforms dragged it eighth places up in the 2019 edition of the report. The world bank noted that the country carried out five business reforms in 2017, which is the highest number to be carried out in Egypt in one year within the past decade. Notable among the reforms are reducing the time to start a business to 11 days now, from 16 days earlier; and strengthening corporate transparency to protect the rights of minority investors.
