Morocco Tops Africa’s Industrial Rankings — AfDB Confirms
Morocco has officially emerged as Africa’s leading industrial economy, according to a newly released index by the African Development Bank, confirming the accuracy of your headline.
The AfDB’s 2025 Africa Industrialization Index (AII)—unveiled during its 2026 Annual Meetings—shows that Morocco has overtaken South Africa to become the continent’s top industrial performer.
AfDB analysts note that Morocco’s industrial ecosystem—spanning automotive manufacturing, aerospace, and renewable energy—has helped position the country as a key production and export hub linking Africa to global markets.
The index, which assessed 54 African countries over the 2010–2024 period, also found that while industrialisation is improving across the continent, it remains uneven, with North and Southern Africa dominating output and export sophistication.
Despite the progress, the AfDB warns that Africa still accounts for less than 2% of global manufacturing output and only 1.4% of manufacturing exports, highlighting the need for deeper regional integration and value addition.
The findings reinforce Morocco’s growing role as a model for industrial transformation in Africa, even as broader structural challenges—such as weak intra-African trade and fragmented production systems—continue to limit the continent’s full industrial potential.
