It was announced this week that Fabrice Cambolive will become Renault’s CEO for Africa, the Middle East and India (AMI).
This news is of importance to Morocco, where Renault has two factories, one in Tangier and the other in Casablanca. The plant in Tangier is the region’s largest and is expected to produce 400,000 vehicles annually. Moreover in 2016, Renault invested USD 1 billion in the country to create an “industry ecosystem” which would increase local production of components. Morocco’s industry minister Moulay Hafid El Alamy revealed to Reuters that this investment would create MAD 20 billion in revenue.
Morocco’s car industry creates 5% of the nation’s GDP and was last year heralded by the Financial Times as one of the country’s “big success stories”.
The Kingdom has ranked amongst the top three places to invest in Africa between 2013 and 2016, according to Quantum Global Research Lab’s Africa Investment Index. Additionally, unlike many nations nearby who suffered after the worldwide financial crisis of 2008 and the Arab Spring revolts of 2011, Morocco was able to avoid a large decrease in foreign investments “partly by marketing itself as an export base for Europe, the Middle East and Africa”.
Renault controls 38.5% of the market in North Africa and the AMI region generates Renault’s second highest amount of sales; in 2016 almost 500,000 Renault vehicles were sold.
