Morocco remains number 1 market for US arms in North Africa

Morocco has maintained its spot as the primary market for the US armament industry in North Africa with $244 million worth of arms sales in 2016.

According to Moroccan media reports, 96 per cent of Moroccan weapon acquisitions in 2016 were from the US compared to 100 per cent in 2015.

Three per cent of Morocco’s GDP is allocated to its military expenditures and it has an army capacity of 200,000 personnel. Last year, Morocco received a batch of US-made M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks in the port of Casablanca as part of a deal worth $1 billion and the supply of 220 Abrams tanks.

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Morocco has spent $6.2 billion on weapon deals between 2011 and 2015 and was ranked the fifth largest recipient of the French arms industry and third in the Arab world after Egypt and the UAE in 2016.

The North African country is the second largest purchaser of Spanish arms on the continent with imports of up to $48 million in 2015, according to the Spanish Trade Ministry.