Closure of Moroccan-Algerian border represents non-integration of Maghreb, hamper development in region

Non-integration in the Maghreb region costs a loss of 2 to 3 % of GDP for each of the five economies, the French NGO indicated in a report entitled "20th anniversary of the closure of Algerian-Moroccan borders: significant costs for the Maghreb".

 

The Maghreb has tremendous potential for political integration, economic cooperation and human development, Oxfam France went on to say, adding that exports among the Maghreb countries in 2012 hardly reached 3.3 % of the overall exports of this region.

 

This lack of integration is compounded by a weak cooperation with the rest of the African continent with no more than 5.2 % of the Maghreb union's exports heading to African countries, the report added. 

 

A real integration of the Maghreb region would have would have yielded a ê 10 billion value added for the five countries, French NGO concluded.