Morocco Climbs to 4th in Africa Investment Ranking
Morocco now ranks 4th in RMB's 2026/2027 Africa investment attractiveness index, overtaking South Africa on the back of strong growth, record car exports and a credit rating upgrade.
Morocco has topped the "Where to Invest in Africa 2026/2027" ranking published by South African bank RMB (a subsidiary of the FirstRand group), climbing to 4th place among 31 African countries and overtaking South Africa. It is the only country to advance within the top five this year. Seychelles, Mauritius and Egypt kept the top three spots for a third consecutive year.
The report scores African countries on 20 indicators across four pillars: economic performance and potential, market access and innovation, investment climate, and social and human development.
Economic growth and a record year for car exports
Morocco's economy grew 4.9% in 2025, with inflation staying below 3% between 2024 and mid-2026, versus a roughly 5% five-year average in South Africa through June 2026, the report says. The automotive industry is driving this momentum: production has nearly doubled over a decade, from under 290,000 units in 2015, after Renault's Tangier plant and Stellantis's Kénitra plant expanded capacity. Car exports hit a record 157.6 billion dirhams in 2024, up 6.3%, remaining the Kingdom's top export sector.
A higher credit rating and surging foreign investment
Standard & Poor's upgraded Morocco's sovereign rating to investment grade in September 2025, with a stable outlook. That came alongside a jump in net foreign direct investment inflows, which reached nearly $3.3 billion in 2025, up from $1.7 billion in 2024, a 91% increase, according to UNCTAD data cited in the report.
| Indicator | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| S&P long-term rating | BB+ | BBB- |
| S&P short-term rating | B | A-3 |
| Net FDI inflows | $1.7 billion | $3.3 billion |
Tourism and the 2030 World Cup boost the picture
Morocco welcomed 19.8 million tourists in 2025, with tourism receipts of 124 billion dirhams over the first eleven months of the year, up 19%. The country plans to invest roughly $5 billion in infrastructure tied to hosting the 2030 World Cup, as part of a strategy targeting 26 million tourists a year by the end of the decade.
According to the IMF's March 2026 Article IV report, the budget deficit stood at 3.5% of GDP in 2025, while public debt is projected to fall from 67.1% in 2025 to 60.5% by 2031.
The RMB report, which describes Morocco's economic growth over the past year as an "acceleration," concludes that net foreign direct investment inflows into Morocco have reached nearly triple their low point recorded in 2023.