The daily newspaper wrote in an article titled "Casablanca, the Moroccan Wall Street, conquers Africa" that "the Casablanca Finance City, established in 2010, attracts, thanks to its modern infrastructure and contemporary buildings, start-ups, multinational companies, banks, insurance companies, and investment funds," adding that "today, the Casablanca Finance City hosts 225 companies covering 115 countries, including 50 companies in Africa."
After recalling Casablanca's status as the leading financial centre on the continent, ahead of Kigali and Johannesburg, according to the Global Financial Centres Index, "Le Figaro" noted that this financial hub, which hosted 1,200 industry leaders last month during the fifth edition of the Africa Finance Summit, also seeks to be a financial platform, with its managers aspiring to make it a "hub for African finance."
The article added that by attracting companies and capital, Casablanca aims to consolidate its position as a business hub in Africa, noting that on this continent, "the next source of global growth," 70 percent of households will have purchasing power exceeding 5,000 dollars by 2025, according to the International Monetary Fund.
The French daily believes that the momentum seen by the Casablanca Finance City was driven by political will, reinforced by the speech delivered by His Majesty King Mohammed VI in Abidjan in 2014, as well as the Kingdom's return to the African Union in 2017.
The source, which relied on figures from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, pointed out that Moroccan investments in Africa have seen a significant surge since then, rising from 100 million dollars in 2014 to more than 800 million dollars in 2021, explaining that 43 percent of Moroccan foreign direct investment is directed towards the continent today.
