Morocco is seeking to reduce its dependency on foreign suppliers for weapons by looking into producing weapons locally.
Morocco is currently holding talks with countries such as Spain, France and US, and companies for the launch of consortiums for local weapons manufacturing according to a report by the Strategic Defense Intelligence (SDI), reports Morocco World News.
According to SDI, Morocco’s military industry is currently not in a position to export weapons and military equipment but the government’s attempts at developing and expanding the field of domestic arms manufacturing is looking into changing that.
Morocco move to develop its military weapon production is due to the desire to become a military power in Africa, holding huge reserves of hard currency among other things according to the SDI report.
Morocco is working with British and Belgium companies in the establishment of the military plants that will manufacture the military equipment.
Saudi Arabia is said to have agreed to provide financial support to Morocco to develop its military industry.
Moroccan’s is the world’s 13th biggest importer since its weaponry imports has increased. The North African nation is the second biggest weapons importer in Africa, after Algeria, a position the SDI predicted it would hold until at least 2020.
