A new index has ranked Morocco as 1st African country in attractiveness for International franchises and second in the MENA region, ahead of Saudi Arabia and below the UAE.

The Rosenberg International Franchise Center affiliated with the University of New Hampshire has released its 2019 International Franchise Attractiveness Index that ranks 131 countries in terms of their attractiveness for US-based franchises.

Morocco ranks 2nd in the Middle East and North Africa in this report, just below the United Arab Emirates, and 39th worldwide, and topped the list at the level of the African continent. Morocco has moved from the 41st position in 2018 to the 39 position this year, marking a clear development in its economic environment.

The ranking takes into account eight factors including the economic and political risks, the legal and regulatory risks, the cultural and geographic distance. The scores of each of these factors adds up to an overall Attractiveness Score, which determines the country’s ranking.

Morocco ranks 62nd in the 1st factor (economic and political risks) between Russia and Namibia, and 56th in the second factor (the legal and regulatory risks) between Bulgaria and Kenya. As to the remaining factors, namely the legal and regulatory risks and the cultural and geographic distance, Morocco came in the 24th and 47th positions, respectively. Morocco’s total score is 54.00 which places it between Russia (53.48) and Romania (54.33).

With this score, Morocco comes 1st in Africa, followed by South Africa, then Ethiopia and Ghana, and second in the MENA region