Morocco is heading to establish its own defense industries

After its experience and great success in manufacturing cars and aircraft over the past years, Morocco seeks to establish a military industry as part of its desire to transform into a regional power, to respond through this industry to local demand and export to foreign markets.

This trend emerged through agreements that bring together the African country with other companies and countries, such as the signing of an agreement at the end of last September with the Indian company Tata Group, which aims to produce a combat vehicle in a factory in Morocco.

The Moroccan Defense Administration considered, after signing the agreement, that it aims to respond to local demand for military industries and to export to foreign markets.

This step comes after Morocco announced last June its intention to establish two industrial zones in the defense sector to focus on security equipment, mechanisms and weapons systems, following the Ministerial Council’s approval of four projects related to the military sector.

A Moroccan expert believes that his country’s decision to build this industry stems from its desire to become a regional power, an attempt to reduce the high financial cost of military equipment, and the need for types of weapons such as drones.

At the end of September, the Moroccan National Defense Administration and Tata Group signed an agreement to locally produce the WhAP 8×8 ground combat vehicle at a factory in Morocco.

A statement by the National Defense Administration considered that the project places Morocco at the heart of attention, as a hub for development in the field of defense, and opens promising horizons for investors interested in the defense and advanced technology sectors.

The statement pointed out that the agreement aims to respond to local demand and export to foreign markets.

It’s noteworthy that Morocco raised the defense budget for the current year to 124.7 billion dirhams ($12.47 billion), compared to 120 billion dirhams ($12 billion) last year, according to the country’s budget for 2024.

Over the past few years, Morocco has been able to attract many international companies to invest in the aircraft industry, bringing the number to 142 companies operating in the aviation sector, providing about 20,000 job opportunities.

The country’s aviation sector exports exceeded 21 billion dirhams ($2.1 billion) in 2022, compared to 15 billion dirhams ($1.5 billion) in 2021, a growth of 40%.

Morocco has been able to enter the ranks of countries that manufacture electric cars during the past few years, after an experiment that enabled it to export 700,000 cars per year.

Last June, Morocco announced its intention to establish two industrial zones specialized in the defense sector, aiming to support the development and maintenance of security equipment, mechanisms and weapons systems, after the Ministerial Council approved four projects related to the military field.

One of these projects aims to create two defense industrial acceleration zones, to provide industrial zones to host industries related to defense and security equipment and mechanisms, weapons and ammunition systems, according to a statement by Royal Palace spokesman Abdelhak Lamrini.

In November 2022, the Minister in charge of National Defense Administration, Abdel Latif Loudiyi, said that the budget allocated for defense was insufficient in light of the security threats facing the region.

He added that the defense budget in 2023 represents only 5% of the gross domestic product, considering it insufficient with the challenges that “require vigilance,” as he put it.

Morocco is ranked 29th among the largest arms importers in the world, with its imports increasing.

It’s also the second largest arms importer in Africa after Algeria, and seeks to reduce its dependence on external suppliers.

According to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, issued last March, Morocco was among the largest arms importers with a share of 0.9% of total arms imports in the world, and ranked seventh in the Arab world between 2009 and 2023.