Morocco and Egypt want to breathe new life into their commercial cooperation by focusing on a direct maritime connection. This project aims to overcome current logistical blockages and to balance largely deficit exchanges for the kingdom.
While trade tensions between Morocco and Egypt seem to calm down, the two countries display their desire to take a new step towards further economic integration. One of the main initiatives envisaged in this sense is the creation of a direct maritime line connecting the two countries, pending the reactivation of the coastal land route connecting North Africa.
The president of the Egyptian Federation of Chambers of Commerce, Ahmed El Wakeel, revealed this intention after the Moroccan-Egyptian investment and trade forum. According to him, the establishment of this maritime corridor will facilitate access to neighboring markets, thanks to the many free trade zones available to the two countries. Morocco could thus serve as a logistics platform to West Africa for Egyptian companies, while Egypt would open easy access to East African and the Middle East to Moroccan operators.
This liaison project is involved in a context of manifest commercial imbalance. The kingdom imported more than 12.5 billion dirhams of Egyptian goods in 2024, while its exports to Cairo did not exceed 754 million dirhams. To restore a certain balance, Moroccan authorities and economic players argue for a significant increase in exports, notably targeting $ 500 million next year.
Among the highlighted sectors are the automobile, fertilizers, agrifood products or even juice concentrates. Morocco, the leading producer of private vehicles in Africa, wishes by exporting 1,000 cars to Egypt in 2025. For their part, Egyptian companies consolidate their industrial presence in Morocco, with factories in the fields of furniture, health equipment and irrigation, representing an investment of nearly $ 100 million.
The two governments have affirmed their commitment to lifting customs and administrative barriers that hinder bilateral trade. The Moroccan Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade, Omar Hajira, recalled that Moroccan exports represented only 6 % of the overall volume of exchanges between the two countries, a rate deemed insufficient in view of the existing potential.
In this dynamic, the direct maritime link could play a structuring role. It would shorten the delivery times of goods, reduce logistical costs, and above all to promote a more fluid circulation of goods in both directions. A concrete step towards “co-development”, at the heart of the official discourse of the two parties.
