Morocco has emerged as Africa’s top industrial economy for the first time, overtaking South Africa in the latest Africa Industrialisation Index (AII) released by the African Development Bank (AfDB) during its 2026 Annual Meetings in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.
The 2025 edition of the index described Morocco’s rise as one of the report’s “most striking findings,” crediting the North African country’s sustained industrial upgrading, export diversification, infrastructure expansion, and aggressive industrial policy.
According to the AfDB, Morocco displaced South Africa after years of heavy investment in automotive manufacturing, aerospace, renewable energy, logistics, and export-oriented industries. The report noted that Morocco’s industrial ecosystem has become one of the most integrated and competitive on the continent.
The Africa Industrialisation Index evaluates 52 African countries across 19 indicators, including manufacturing output, export sophistication, infrastructure quality, industrial financing, energy access, and integration into regional and global value chains.
The AfDB said Africa is experiencing a “silent but irreversible” industrial transition, although progress remains uneven across the continent. Forty-one African countries improved their industrialisation scores between 2010 and 2024, with the continent’s overall performance rising by about six percent over the period.
Morocco’s industrial success has largely been driven by its transformation into a manufacturing hub for Europe and Africa. The country has built one of Africa’s largest automotive industries, hosting global firms such as Renault and Stellantis, while also expanding aerospace production, fertilizer processing, electronics assembly, and renewable energy investments.
The country’s Tanger Med port complex — now one of the busiest ports in the Mediterranean and Africa — has also strengthened Morocco’s position as a logistics and export gateway between Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Analysts say the combination of industrial zones, modern infrastructure, trade agreements, and political stability helped Morocco gain momentum ahead of regional competitors.
AfDB officials said the continent still faces major structural obstacles despite the progress recorded in the report. Intra-African trade currently represents only 14.4 percent of Africa’s total trade, reflecting weak regional supply chains and fragmented industrial systems.
Speaking during the launch of the reports in Brazzaville, AfDB Director for Industrial and Trade Development Ousmane Fall said industrialisation at scale would require resilient infrastructure, stronger regional integration, local value addition, and financing mobilised “on African terms.”
Alongside the industrialisation index, the AfDB also unveiled the inaugural Africa Industrial Investment Barometer, developed with WITBA Invest and Trendeo. The report showed that investment flows into African manufacturing and industrial sectors are rising, but a large share of the value generated still leaks offshore because many countries continue exporting raw materials with limited local processing.
The development comes as African governments push for homegrown industrial financing strategies amid tighter global financial conditions, rising debt burdens, and declining foreign aid. At the Brazzaville meetings, leaders called for stronger mobilisation of African pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and domestic capital markets to finance industrial expansion across the continent.
South Africa, long regarded as Africa’s dominant industrial economy, has faced mounting challenges in recent years, including electricity shortages, logistics bottlenecks, weak growth, and declining manufacturing competitiveness. Analysts say Morocco’s rapid industrial policy execution and export diversification helped it seize the top position.
The AfDB report noted that although Africa’s manufacturing value-added increased from $285 billion in 2020 to $351 billion in 2025, the continent still accounts for less than two percent of global manufacturing output and only 1.4 percent of global manufacturing exports.
Economists say Morocco’s achievement could become a model for other African countries seeking to industrialise through export-led manufacturing, infrastructure investment, renewable energy expansion, and regional trade integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
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