Casablanca aims to become a major West African financial hub

Morocco is working to establish Casablanca as a major financial hub for West Africa, aiming to compete with established European financial centers like Madrid and Barcelona. This strategic ambition is part of a broader plan to increase the kingdom's international influence through economic investment and the development of a specialized financial district.

To support this goal, the Casablanca Finance City (CFC) recently organized the second edition of the Casablanca Business Forum. Under the theme ‘The next economic chapter of Africa’, the event gathered African leaders, academics, and business figures, including 2025 Nobel Prize winner in Economics Philippe Aghion and former Beninese minister Lionel Zinsou. The forum emphasized the need for African economic and digital sovereignty by diversifying alliances and reducing external dependencies. Some observers suggest the long-term objective is for Casablanca to become an ‘African Davos’.