Morocco shows resilience as global business failures rise
via Le Matin3 min read
While global business failures are projected to increase for a fifth consecutive year in 2026, Morocco is an exception, according to Allianz Trade. After reaching a record 15,658 failures in 2024, Morocco saw a 2% decrease to 15,307 cases in 2025. Allianz Trade forecasts further declines of 2% in 2026 to 14,950 cases and 4% in 2027 to 14,300 cases. Despite this positive trend, the absolute number of failures in Morocco in 2027 is still expected to be 78% above its pre-pandemic average 2016-2019. Globally, business failures are predicted to rise by 6% in 2026, with a plateau now expected in 2027, a delay attributed to the Middle East conflict's impact on energy costs, transport, and supply chains. This conflict is estimated to cause an additional 7,000 global failures in 2026 and 7,900 in 2027. A prolonged conflict could lead to a 10% increase in global failures in 2026 and 3% in 2027, resulting in approximately 4,100 additional cases in the United States and 10,500 in Western Europe during 2026-2027. Western Europe and Asia, particularly China, are identified as the most exposed regions, with France potentially reaching 69,900 failures in 2026. The United States is also expected to see a 9% rise to 26,750 cases. Globally, 2.2 million jobs are directly threatened in 2026 due to these failures, with 1.3 million in Europe, including 960,000 in Western Europe. The construction, retail, and services sectors are most at risk.
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This summary was AI-generated from a story originally published by Le Matin.
The unemployment gap between men and women in Morocco has increased to 9.7 percentage points since the pandemic, with the women's unemployment rate reaching 20.5% in 2025, compared to 10.8% for men, according to Bank Al-Maghrib's 2025 annual report. This gap was 5.7 points in 2019. Additionally, women earn less, with a nearly 23% wage gap in urban areas in 2019, according to the High Commission for Planning HCP. Morocco ranks in the bottom decile globally for gender equality, despite constitutional provisions. The activity rate for women decreased from 21.5% to 19% between 2019 and 2025, while for men it fell from 71% to 68.5%, maintaining a 49.5-point gap. Rural areas have seen a significant increase in disparities, largely due to successive years of drought impacting agricultural activity, which employs 86.4% of active rural women. Social norms also contribute to these inequalities; a 2017-2020 global values survey found that 64% of men and 48.3% of women in Morocco believe men should be prioritized for jobs when opportunities are scarce. Furthermore, 69% of men and 54% of women consider being a housewife as rewarding as paid employment. Practical difficulties such as insufficient work flexibility and inaccessible childcare services also hinder women's participation in the labor market. This issue extends beyond Morocco, with a World Bank study indicating that removing barriers to women's employment in the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan MENAAP region c
Must ReadMr. Bourita represented His Majesty the King at the African Union's extraordinary summit focused on eliminating AIDS by 2030. During the event, Mr. Bourita highlighted the Royal Vision for African health sovereignty, emphasizing solidarity, social justice, and knowledge sharing. He noted that Morocco, under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, has made health a strategic pillar of its continental cooperation, aligning with the summit's key themes: local manufacturing of medical products, innovative financing, and political governance. The summit addressed the elimination of AIDS by 2030, the fight against preventable maternal deaths, endemic communicable and non-communicable diseases, and the strengthening of health systems. This summit followed the 38th ordinary session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government's decision on evolving health priorities in Africa. The summit reviewed an AU roadmap for 2030 and beyond, aiming to sustain the HIV/AIDS response, enhance health system resilience, and improve health security across the continent. The Moroccan delegation, led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation, and Moroccans Residing Abroad, included representatives from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
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