Morocco, a good example of African development !
This afternoon Chahine from APEFE took me into Tangier. I am so happy that the first day of my arrival I don’t have to immediately start working like crazy but I have time to recover from waking up at 3 AM. So we drove to the inner city and started walking. Off course I knew what I wanted to see as I had done my research before arriving. I wanted to see the medina and the kasba! We walked for a long time and Chahine had time to tell me about Morocco and Tangier. Here it goes….
Tangier is currently under severe development as this was an area mainly neglected by the government for political reasons. The people were considered Rif (language they speak/spoke) and have even fought for independence throughout time. However, once upon a time Tangier was famous as many French artists lived here. After their departure it became a dead town. The Northern part of Morocco is well known for its Cannabis production and export. Many locals became wealthy through this trade and began whitewashing their money through hotels and bars in Tangier. Many hotels and bars are out of proportion big and are never really full. Some buildings are constructed and unused even. The ROI for the private individual is quite disgusting to see. However, the investment of this illegal money helped Tangier to start slowly developing on its own before government interference. Hence, I took a picture of the old limousine to mirror the image of the Mafia.
To continue, after the death of the late King, the current King felt that the country had done the Northern part wrong and saw the potential of Tangier. Large sums of money are now being pumped into the region to further develop the largest port of Africa. Private investors were attracted and an offshore zone for business was created. Renault employs 6000 people in Tangier itself! Tangier has to become an exclusive beach resort and they are busy developing. Tangier is about one hour away from Spain and from the shore I can see the straight of Gibraltar and the lights of the cars in Spain! Unbelievably how close it is. Moroccans all need visas through the Spanish Embassy to visit Spain. There are still two areas underneath Spanish colonisation in Morocco. These areas are populated 80 percent by Moroccans which makes sense of course but they are all citizens of Spain. If you live in Tangier and this is marked on your ID card you can enter this zone without a visa. Other Moroccan passport (non Tangier residents) holders need a visa from the Spanish Embassy. What age do we live in that Spain still has 2 colonised areas within Morocco… Crazy! Let’s not get into the political stuff and keep enjoying.
While walking through Tangier, you can’t help but wonder why did so many people from here immigrate to Belgium, Spain and Germany? Tangier seems like a good place to live. I didn’t even need to ask as Chahine spontaneously began to discuss immigration. He told me how in 1910 Morocco was nothing, completely underdeveloped and the wealth only shared in the King’s circles. Many Moroccans left to seek opportunity elsewhere but now opportunity in the places they once sought is gone. Many Moroccans are returning home as the diaspora has much more opportunity here and brings high levelled education and fresh ideas to Morocco. So considering that 100 years went passed, I must say Morocco advanced well. We can’t say that about many other African countries that were colonised as well.
We continued walking towards the medina as I quietly hinted to Chahine. He said: Francine, you are going to make me go into areas I never dared to explore. Haha that’s me! Let’s do this together. In the photos you notice how they use Spanish as a second language… More to come on our Kasba and Medina visit !
