{"id":2646,"date":"2025-02-28T16:36:02","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T16:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/?p=2646"},"modified":"2025-02-28T20:38:17","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T20:38:17","slug":"france-lives-off-moroccan-rent-how-phosphate-transformed-from-a-national-resource-to-a-source-of-economic-domination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/france-lives-off-moroccan-rent-how-phosphate-transformed-from-a-national-resource-to-a-source-of-economic-domination\/","title":{"rendered":"“France Lives Off Moroccan Rent”: How Phosphate Transformed from a National Resource to a Source of Economic Domination?"},"content":{"rendered":"

“France lives off Moroccan rent,” declared a Moroccan academic during a television program on the official Moroccan channel, highlighting how France benefits from Morocco’s natural resources, particularly phosphate, through historical agreements like the\u00a0Aix-les-Bains Accords<\/strong>. These statements come as the Directorate of Financial Studies and Forecasts announces that phosphate and its derivatives generated\u00a086.8 billion dirhams<\/strong>\u00a0by the end of 2024. But the pressing question is:\u00a0How much of these revenues actually goes to Morocco?<\/strong>\u00a0And are we still paying the price for agreements signed decades ago?<\/p>\n

The Aix-les-Bains Accords: 100 Years of Economic Domination<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Signed just one year after Morocco’s independence (1956), the Aix-les-Bains Accords granted French companies, notably\u00a0Occidental<\/strong>, the right to extract and export Moroccan phosphate for\u00a0100 years<\/strong>, until 2055. According to the agreement, France took between\u00a060% and 80%<\/strong>\u00a0of phosphate revenues, while the Moroccan government received the remainder. This inequitable distribution, coupled with the excessive duration of the agreement, was seen as a continuation of French economic domination even after independence.<\/p>\n

Controversial Clauses of the Agreement:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
    \n
  1. Revenue Distribution:<\/strong>
    \nFrench companies received the lion’s share of phosphate revenues, meaning Morocco only received a fraction of the real value of this strategic resource.<\/li>\n
  2. Control Over Production:<\/strong>
    \nFrench companies had full control over the extraction and export process, limiting Morocco’s ability to develop an independent national industry in this field.<\/li>\n
  3. Duration of the Agreement:<\/strong>
    \nThe agreement was long-term (100 years), keeping Morocco bound to its terms for decades, even after independence.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    86.8 Billion Dirhams: How Much Goes to Morocco?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    If we apply the\u00a060% to 80%<\/strong>\u00a0that France takes from the\u00a086.8 billion dirhams<\/strong>\u00a0in phosphate revenues for 2024, the results are as follows:<\/p>\n