Introduction
Morocco is a mountainous country located in the Western North Africa. The indigenous people in Morocco are called Berbers who were the original people to settle in Morocco. During the 7 th century CE, the Arab conquered the country, and the area was being referred to as Maghrib (in Arabic it means “the West”) (Holden, 2003) . This influenced the religious aspect of the country, and majority of the people accepted Islam religion. The political influence of Morocco came from the Arabs and the coastal area. During the 19 th century, Morocco became a French protectorate and regained its independence in 1956 (Holden, 2003) . Today, it is the only monarchy in North Africa. The country has been rapidly growing and becoming modernized. The country has the most ancient architecture and has become a commercial and an industrial center .
Recently, the Chinese and Moroccan relationship has been blossoming. There are over 500 BCME branches in Morocco and recently opened a new branch in Shanghai. Moroccan companies and businesses are playing a significant role in boosting the Chinese and Moroccan relationship. This is because the Chinese banks are interested in Morocco and the Moroccan banks are interested in China. In 2015, Morocco hosted the Sino-African Entrepreneurs Summit in Marrakech that was organized by China for Africa (Fukuyama, Pei, Chu, & Diamond, 2012) . The bond between Morocco and China was strengthened in 2016 when Morocco’s king made a state visit to China which marked his second trip to China. During this trip , Moroccan King Mohammed VI signed a treaty for a strategic partnership with the Chinese President, Xi Jinping. This new strategic partnership has potential benefits for both China and Morocco country which includes economic , tourism, cultural and education. This relationship can be traced back in 1958 when Morocco recognized the Republic of China.
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Literature Review
During the 7 th and 8 th Century, Arabs invaded Morocco and formed a great Muslim dynasty. In the 10 th to 17 th century, dynasties and religious movements were appearing and disappearing. Some movements like Almoravid was controlling Morocco. Morocco became a French protectorate in 1912 under the Treaty of Fez (Holden, 2003) . This treaty was issued by the French Resident-General . The first general elections to be held in Morocco was in 1963 after the approval of a constitution. In 1983, King Hassan canceled general elections because the country was in an economic crisis and could not fund the elections . In 1984, the country left the Organization of African Unity. In 1998, the first opposition government ruled the country. The political status of the country has been unstable for many years. The Casablanca bombings that happened in 2003 killed more than 40 people (Cantrell, 2017) . In 2004, a strong earthquake hit the northern part of the country and killed more than 500 people. During the same year, the country signed an agreement with the US about free trade. This was to help the country recover from its economic crisis.
Research shows that Morocco is the most democratic country in the Arab world. The Democracy Index 2017 shows that Morocco had a score of 735 (Charai, 2017) . The country has improved with 74 points from 661 in 2016. The 2011 constitution has influenced a lot of political reforms which led to social and political stability in the country. Even though there has been a drop in democracy index in the Arab world, Morocco remains the leading democratic country.
Morocco has taken advantage of being close to Europe and built a market-oriented, diverse and open economy. The main building blocks of the county’s economy are tourism and agriculture. Morocco has continuously increased its investment in transportation and industrial infrastructure and has become a business tower in Africa. In the recent years, the country’s economy has been associated with low levels of inflation and macroeconomic stability. The economy mainly depends on export, tourism and private investments. Consequently, agriculture has been boosting the economy of the country though not full because of the climatic changes which have affected the rain seasons. The decline in agricultural productivity has affected the GDP of the country which was at 4.5% in 2015 and dropped to 1.6% in 2016 (Hammond, 2017) . However, the GDP is likely to increase in 2017 through tourism, private investment, and exports.
Morocco held their 10 th parliamentary election in October 2016 after gaining their independence in 1956. Out of the 34 million people in the country, 16 million were registered voters (Elshehawy, Hongfang, & Ahmed, 2014) . The main battle was between Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) and Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), the opposition party. The legal systems in the country support a democratic political system where votes determine the ruling party. This means that free and fair voting is encouraged and practiced in the country as a sign of true democracy.
The population of Morocco is made up of Arabs, Arab-Berber, and Sunni Muslims. There are also other ethnic groups such as Gnaoua and Haratin that resulted from a mixture of black race individuals. Jewish are also part of Morocco, but they form the minority group. Due to globalization and past colonization, there are foreigners who live in Morocco with the French and Spanish origin. Berbers are the indigenous people in Morocco. An estimate of 34million people is living in Morocco.
The official language is spoken by the Moroccan is classical Arabic. However, a large number of the residents speak Berber and others speak Morocco-Arabic language. Others speak Spanish and French. The English language is becoming the second foreign language being taught in schools (Holden, 2003) . The largest ethnic group in Morocco is Arab-Berber, and the smallest is the Jewish people. Muslims are dominant in the country as compared to the small Christian population. The official language is Arabic, and other dialects include French, Spanish, Berber, and English which is being taught in schools.
There have been gender inequality in Morocco which has been slowing down the economic growth of the country. Women and girls were discriminated, and only boy child was allowed to go to school to gain education and get employment. Most ladies have not been going to school and has increased the dependency rate in the country because women wholly depended on the men for a living. The country passed a law to encourage gender equality and to allow women to go to school and have equal employment opportunities as men. The law has been facing challenges from the Islam who believe that men are the head of households and women are subject to them. In 2004, the Morocco changed the family law code and raised the minimum age for a woman to be married from 15 to 18 years.
Gender inequality has caused 22% of youths to become unemployed and fewer women at the workplaces as compared to men. 66% workforce participation is from men while 25% participation is from women (Gunner, 2014) . The government is working towards implementing policies that will integrate women into the economy and to encourage girl child education. Integrating the women in the Morocco’s economy will significantly improve the economy of the country. It will boost the income per capita with 50% (Desrues & Nieto, 2009) . Since the population is growing slowly, the aging percentage of workers are likely to leave a lot of job vacancies in their retirement which will reduce the workforce and negatively affect the country’s economy. More reforms are needed on gender equality to make sure that all people have an equal chance and opportunity in the country, regardless of their gender. Such reforms include girl child education, a substantial amount of maternity leave with full salary guarantee and job security, increase the population of the taxpayers by integrating women into the economy and supporting women entrepreneurship.
The Country’s Socio-Economic Situation and its Place in the Global Economic and Political System
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI carried out a state visit to China, for the second time after visiting the country in 2012. The timing of the second visit raised a lot of concerns from the US and UN. However, Morocco and China relationship have great potentials in boosting the economy of both countries. Morocco and China have a win-win strategic agreement that will allow Morocco to run business in China and China will be able to run business in Morocco (Dickey, 2011) . Encouraging foreign investments is one of the ways which have boosted the economy of the country. China has become one of the most influential countries in Africa, and it has been seeking more partnership from African countries .
Morocco matters to the US because it was the first country to acknowledge the US as an independent country in 1777 (Njoku, 2006) . Morocco has remained to be a loyal ally to the US during the harsh political times in Maghreb. The US president, Barack Obama has hosted King Mohammed VI of Morocco with the aim of gaining bilateral economic bond between the two countries. Also, to strengthen the relationship between the two countries. Recently, the US and Morocco engaged in a strategic dialogue to address various issues and find the best solutions. The relationship between Morocco and the US is marked by the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that allows free flow of business between these two nations. The relationship between the US and Morocco has been long-standing since 1777.
France is one of the main trading partners with Morocco. The relationship between France and Morocco provides culture, religious and security reforms. In 2013, Morocco offered support to the military intervention from France in Mali. The two countries share security details. French is one of the dialects being spoken in the country if Morocco. French sees Morocco as a stronghold for a culture that boosts tourism.
Morocco country relationships with other nations have resulted in having more ethnic groups within the country and has influenced the languages being spoken in the country. For instance, English is a foreign language that is being taught in school as a result if having a good relationship with the US (Yom, 2017) . Also, due to diversity and globalization, the country needs to have the knowledge of English for efficient communication among different nations. Morocco’s economy thrives well with foreign investors, hence cooperating with China and other nations will boost the development of the country.
Signing a strategic plan with China forms a major base of business and political appointment among the two countries. It creates a good business environment between the two countries and Morocco can open business branches in China while China can open businesses in Morocco. This is an advantage for both countries. China is a good deal for Morocco because it provides a gateway for China to cooperate with more countries in Africa and boost the economic status of the countries . The strategic plan that was signed between the two countries is mutual, meaning that both countries should mutually benefit from the agreement without the feeling of being used. China is not seeking self-benefits from Morocco, but it is looking forward into having a mutual relationship with the country.
The relationship between the US and Morocco is not being affected by China, but it is being affected by the change of administration in the US. During Obama’s administration, the relationship was good and productive. However, during the Trump’s administration, the relationship has become distant, and the foreign political and economic support from the US has been diminishing. Even though Morocco has been a long-term ally of the United States, Trump’s efforts are geared towards safeguarding its interest in China and Russia. Dismissing Moroccan relationship will affect both countries since they have a free flow of trade. This means that the trading affair will reduce.
In April 2016, the relationship between Morocco and the US continued to weaken as the US undermined the law enforcement in Morocco and considered it as corrupt and ineffective (Zoubir, 2000) . Moroccan official had to dismiss such information and referred to it as scandalous. The US has been helping the North African countries to fight terrorist attacks, and Morocco has been receiving grants and support from America. The short-term implication of the damaged relationship is that Morocco will not be receiving such support , hence security level will reduce affecting business within the country.
China’s activities in Morocco should be a concern to the US because it has been its ally for many years. However, China’s interest to Morocco is not to replace the US because a country is free to make strategic agreements with any nation of their choice. However , the relationship between US and Morocco has been shaky during the Trump’s administration. The short-term benefits of China-Morocco relationship is that the countries will have a free flow of businesses and organizations. Morocco will be able to import and export products and service from and to China . The relationship will continue to strengthen and flourish. The medium-term will result in having Morocco into having great business deals, and they will help in boosting economic status of both countries. On the contrary, the relationship between US and Morocco will continue weakening because of the change in administration. Long-term effect, Morocco will become a strong ally of China and continue working together with the country. Even though the agenda of China is not to pull Morocco from the US, after a long-term relationship, Morocco may change its loyalty to China. This is because of how the current administration has been treating the country and the effects of a weak relationship .
Recommendations
The main recommendation to Morocco country is to improve the gender equality laws to boost the economy of the country. The Islam populations should be taught on the importance of women participating in the workforce of the country rather than waiting for their husbands to provide (Desrues & Nieto, 2009) . Women and the girl child should be empowered to pursue education and to discourage marriages at a young age. The government and the public should work together to achieve gender equality in the country. Policies should be made that support women empowerment and provide them with equal and fair opportunities. This will benefit the country because taxpayer’s population will increase and the dependency levels among families will reduce. As a result, the country’s economy will be boosted, and it will not lack insufficient labor force. Having a greater population that is not working will slow down the economic growth of the country. As Morocco seeks to partner with countries like China, it should also consider solving domestic issues that are slowing down the economy. A country that empowers the women has a good economy because of increased labor supply, reduced poverty and availability of more taxpayers in the nation.
References
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