Morocco aims to become aeronautics industry hub
Efforts to grow Morocco’s $2 bn per year aeronautics industry come as part of a years-long push to diversify the largely agrarian economy, according to Africa News and AFP on April 18th. The initiative is intended to dovetail with efforts to develop travel firms, including Moroccan airlines and the state-owned Royal Air Maroc, to meet a growing global demand for airplane manufacturing and servicing.
As-well-as its aeronautics industry, the kingdom intends to subsidize train and automobile manufacturers in a bid to stimulate wider growth.
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Building Morocco’s aeronautics industry could prove lucrative for the kingdom, with a post-COVID 19 rebound in international travel stretching existing production capabilities. Aeronautics manufacturer Boeing has seen a series of high-profile emergencies high-profile emergencies and deadly crashes involving its planes in recent years, with delays stretching global supply chains.
Royal Air Maroc CEO Abdelhamid Addou stated: “There is a market today. Today, the global international supply chain is suffering. Morocco has a good opportunity and a good positioning in terms of the aeronautical industry.”
There are currently 130 aeronautics firms active in Morocco, an industry that employs 42% women, which industry lobbyists say is a larger proportion larger than its European and North American counterparts. The proportion of Moroccan women working in the sector is considerably higher than the country’s average, with only 22% of women employed in 2019, according to The New Arab.
While many companies have set up shop in the kingdom for its comparatively cheap labour, the industry and the Rabat administration have worked to train skilled workers at IMA, an institution for aeronautics in Casablanca.
“Morocco is doing all it could to satisfy investors with their needs for qualified human resources,” says Morocco’s Minister for Transport and Logistics, Mohammed Abdeljalil.
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Safran Aircraft Engines is a French firm that repairs Boeing 737s and Airbus 320s at a plant outside Casablanca, before sending them back to airlines from countries including Brazil, Saudi Arabi, the UK, and Ireland.
Its’s CEO, Jean-Paul Alary, stated: “It’s the access [In Morocco] to well qualified talents who have been well trained. They are the key players for achieving our goals to rise in competence.”
Africa News / AFP / The New Arab
