Moroccans living abroad (MRE) make up a financial issue and major development for Rabat, notes the Pax Christi organization in a recent study under the evocative title: “The Moroccans residing abroad, a gold mine for Rabat “.
Taking as an example the case of Belgium, where an estimated 429,500 people of Moroccan origin lived in 2012, this NGO working for peace worldwide indicates that remittances of the Moroccan community in Belgium represent 5% of the 57 billion dirhams sent by MRE to Morocco. “The largest share of remittances is the work of the first and second generations,” says the study published with the support of the Wallonia-Brussels.
In its analysis, the author points out that relations between Moroccans residing abroad and Morocco have reached a turning point in the late 90s, where the point was believed to have “reached a stagnation of remittances raising fears of a future decline, that may undermine public investment.
The study also looked at the various policies implemented by Morocco to facilitate the integration of its expatriates in the local economy and facilitate the transfer of money and investment of the latter.
In this regard, it is noted that various voluntary policies have been put in place to ensure both durable links with the descendants of Moroccan migrants living in Europe and to “facilitate the movement of human capital as well as the savings of these migrants “.
I must say that remittances are a significant source of revenue for the Kingdom, largely exceeding those generated by tourism.
“If the first and second generations invested heavily in land, gradually there is a diversification of duty stations of financial transfers to the tertiary sector (agriculture, trade, tourism, …),”. Even though the new generations preferentially invest their savings in their countries of residence.
According to this study, the most successful money transfer channels by MRE are Moroccan banks to the tune of 62%, which often have subsidiaries in host countries. The popularity of these institutions, even though the transfer of costs are often huge, is explained by the establishment of a set of policies whose “premium currency counters the risk of depreciation of the dirham by the constitution of foreign currency accounts as well as the cultural and linguistic proximity.
Since the creation in 1989 of the Bank Al Amal, nearly 75% of its shareholding is held by MRE, in a desire to channel financial transfers to more productive sectors, said the study. And it also indicates that it made the raising of funds for investment projects of MREs easier in Morocco.
Like the FINCOME program that “marks a new era in transnational relations between MRE and Morocco and allows the mobilization of skills in public or private sites or in any development initiative,” it is added.
Other tools available to Morocco, the study cites the example of the Hassan II Foundation that was created to sustain the relationship between MRE and Morocco and to accompany investment projects of the MRE, sensitizing government authorities on the difficulties faced by investors.
It’s almost the objective followed with the creation of the Ministry of MRE Affairs, which is working to implement government policies on MRE for issues including their reintegration in their country of origin. But also through encouraging “the associative participation of MRE in the host country or participating in the negotiation of bilateral and international agreements signed by Morocco on the Moroccan diaspora.”
More generally, the study points out that “Morocco has nearly 10% of its population outside the borders of the Kingdom established in majority (85%) in Europe. The rest of the migrant workforce is divided between the US, Canada and Arab countries. Including Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Saudi Arabia, among others.
According to Pax Christi, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Germany and Belgium have the largest contingents of Moroccan nationals.
Regarding the integration of MRE in the host countries, the study reported that it was done gradually and it was combined with attachment to their country of origin. This arguably contributed “to the development of a transnational space in which is organized the circulation of the expatriates to Morocco.”
Emphasizing a gradual diversification of the Moroccan diaspora, the NGO Pax Christi recalls that the integration of MRE in Belgium during the past half century “took two main channels that are family reunification and naturalization” and that the social structure of the Moroccan community in Belgium largely reflects the different waves of immigration experienced by the country.
With libération
