Marking the 27th anniversary of his accession to the throne, King Mohammed VI delivered a speech on July 29 devoted largely to Morocco’s economy. Delivered on the eve of the actual anniversary, as tradition dictates for Throne Day, the address laid out a record of a reign built on stability and industrial growth, while sketching the outlines of a new development cycle the king hopes will take shape once legislative elections are held on September 23.
On the numbers, the record presented by the king was meant to reassure. Growth in the kingdom stood at around 4.9 percent in 2025, a level Mohammed VI hopes will hold steady, or even improve, in 2026. He credited that performance to the gradual diversification of Morocco’s economy, driven by industrialization, innovation and targeted investment in high-value-added sectors. The king also praised the impact of favorable rainfall and a strong agricultural season, which have strengthened the country’s water and food security, a particularly sensitive issue in a region regularly confronted with water stress.
It was industrial growth, however, that took center stage in the royal address. Automotive manufacturing, aerospace, renewable energy and agri-food now rank among the main engines of national growth. Morocco has established itself as Africa’s leading car exporter, with production capacity approaching one million vehicles a year. The automotive and aerospace sectors combined account for more than 40 percent of national exports, a figure that illustrates the structural transformation the kingdom has undergone in recent years, moving from a largely agricultural economy toward becoming a regional industrial hub.
But for Mohammed VI, this momentum cannot continue without a financial effort of unprecedented scale. The king devoted a significant portion of his speech to mobilizing the resources needed to sustain the country’s economic and social transformation, explicitly calling on the national financial sector to play a more active role. He argued for broader access to financing for small and medium-sized enterprises, innovation, industrialization and exports, while stressing the need to fully mobilize domestic savings, particularly institutional savings. « We hope the financial sector will prove more open and more innovative, » he said, calling for a revival of financial markets to accelerate the momentum behind an « emerging Morocco. »
The speech comes at a particular political moment, less than two months before the September 23 legislative elections, which are expected to produce a new government. Without directly wading into the campaign, the king sent a barely veiled message to the country’s future leaders, insisting that the economic and social gains achieved transcend any single government’s or parliament’s term. For the monarch, these results are the fruit of years of sustained positive momentum, driven by strategic choices he intends to see preserved regardless of the election outcome.
The king also pointed to what he described as an effective response to recent crises, citing in particular the handling of floods that struck the Gharb region and the north of the country, as proof of the kingdom’s institutional resilience in the face of climate-related shocks.
According to the monarch, Morocco now stands at a turning point in its development process, a moment when confidence and optimism must prevail over any rhetoric that could feed despair or frustration among the population. It is a message meant both as a record of twenty-seven years of rule and as a roadmap for the future, set against an international backdrop marked by geopolitical tensions and a resurgence of protectionism, two factors that could weigh on the kingdom’s industrial and export ambitions in the months ahead.
What remains to be seen is whether the king’s appeal to the financial sector will translate into concrete action, and whether the government emerging from September’s vote will manage to hold the course set out in this speech, at a time when economic growth, however solid, still needs to translate into job creation and a tangible improvement in living standards for Moroccans.