MOROCCO – The World Bank has released its latest report on Africa’s strongest economies, ranking Morocco as the continent’s 5th strongest economy after Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, and Algeria.
According to the World Bank’s 2019 classification countries based on their GDP, Morocco strong economic performance and a growing GDP, cemented the country’s position as one of the top 5 economies on the continent.
Globally, Morocco rapidly growing and diversifying economy was ranked 59th by the World Bank.
Nigeria’s economic growth beat forecasts in the fourth quarter, helping its economy to expand the most in four years in 2019 as oil output increased and the central bank took steps to boost credit growth.
GDP in the West African country stood at $476 billion or $402 billion, depending on the rate used while South Africa’s GDP was $352 billion, based on an average rand-dollar exchange rate of 14.43 for the year.
While Nigeria led the pack in the western part of the continent and the entire region as a whole, Ethiopia over took Kenya to become the economic power house of East Africa.
Egypt led in North Africa while South Africa led southern African countries in the list of Africa’s strongest Economies even though the market has been performing dismally in the recent past due to the country’s weak macroeconomic policies and decade of mismanagement.
According to the World Bank’s latest report, Morocco’s GDP stands at $118.725 billion, making it the only country among Africa’s top five with a continuously growing GDP in 2019.
The report also revealed that countries endowed with natural resources, including oil, natural gas, and minerals such as phosphates, cobalt, and iron, also have strong economies in terms of GDP.
However, economists predict that non-diversified economies, highly dependent on fossil fuel production, will take a major GDP hit in 2020 due to the severe drop in oil prices.
The ranking follows the bank’s $500 million loan to Morocco, approved on June 22 and granted to support Morocco’s plan to boost digital inclusion.
The loan is part of the Financial and Digital Inclusion Development Policy Financing Project (DPF) to boost mechanisms that promote digital transformation in the country.
The assistance came with the aim of reinforcing financial inclusion. It is also set to improve access to competitive digital infrastructure and services.
This process is a necessity for Morocco, as for many other countries, especially given the special circumstances of the COVID-19 crisis—those that prompted a drive for digitalization.
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