Washington  / Morocco Board News--The Moroccan community's ongoing complains over Royal Air Maroc (RAM) prices and services hit feverish pitch to the point where during recent visits by a Moroccan Minister to Washington DC, Moroccan officials started their meetings by asking the attendees not to bring up this subject. The Moroccans of North America are appalled by what they perceive as abusive pricing practices by an airline that has monopolized the Casablanca-New York flight without oversight by the Moroccan Ministry of Transportation and with no consumer protection laws in place to shield flyers from predatory practices.

Washington  / Morocco Board News--   One thing that is striking about the recent revolts in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain is the absence of any anti-American slogans or denunciations of the Great Satan, as the Iranian regime refers to Uncle Sam. On the contrary: signs of pro-American sensibilities abound. Democracy protesters carried homemade placards displaying slogans and statements (sometimes translated into French) of fundamental American rights.

Marakkech  / Morocco Board News--   I feel blessed to speak darija (Moroccan dialect of Arabic) because that means that I can participate in the daily Moroccan baraka (blessing in Arabic) exchange.
Each and every thing or action can either have baraka or not.  For example, food that is purchased on an honest income, prepared with love and prayers, shared among as many people as possible is said to have baraka.

Before he uttered a word, Mr. Abdelilah Benkirane, the new Moroccan Prime Minister, was made to understand he will be challenged. As he stood before the lectern to address Morocco’s bicameral Parliament, parliamentarian women stood up holding printed slogans expressing their indignation at the trifling representation of women in his new government and chanting their intention to be no milquetoast opposition. Outside the parliament, another group of women demonstrated; their voices squawked through loudspeakers to deplore the regression of the status of women. Mr. Benkirane was hardly nonplussed as if he expected such an outburst.

Washington  / Morocco Board News-- Mr. Mariano Rajoy’s first official visit outside the European Union will be Mr. Abdelilah Benkiran’s first test as a Prime Minister. The Spanish new Prime Minister (PM)’s decision to visit the newly elected Moroccan PM carries a diplomatic and political significance. However, experts from both sides of the Mediterranean diverge on the meaning of this important visit. If Rajoy’s agenda for this meeting has been explicit, his Moroccan counterpart plans have been ambiguous.

All across the Middle East, authoritarian leaders’ legitimacy has been eroded by their inability to provide what their people need and want. The uprising that erupted in Tunisia a year ago and swept across the region took most governments, experts, and international organizations by surprise. The former rulers of Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya have been deposed. Syria and Yemen are embattled. And the remaining Arab countries, in response to mass protests and dissatisfaction, and in the hopes of avoiding the revolutionary winds, are making political concessions and offering handouts to their people.

Washington  / Morocco Board News--The IMF annual report published last month showed a startling correlation between EU’s and Morocco’s respective GDPs and it got me thinking: what if Agricultural GDP was no longer the main variable conditioning the overall economic growth, but rather the EU’s own economic performances? It would then mean that Hubert Lyautey‘s “Gouverner, c’est pleuvoir” would no longer hold, and apart from proving that Morocco has fully integrate itself in global trade, it would mean that policy-makers would have the means to correct, stabilize and expand GDP growth.

Washington / Morocco Board News--   Do you remember that €1Bn eurobond borrowing the outgoing Finances Minister S. Mezouar had managed to land early September 2010? well, the yield has increased some 33% in just a little more than a year, thus placing the lower bracket to the effective future rate of borrowing abroad to a little less than 6%. and the pricing value is going down with little prospects for recovery. For a budget set on borrowing a lot more abroad to sustain its expenditure, this is a bit of a bad news: 6% is not daunting as a yield for the treasury to pay back, but it will certainly put a strain on public finances and mortgage the future.