Morocco ranked first in the Maghreb and second in Africa for readiness in advanced technologies related to artificial intelligence, according to a report by UNCTAD. The report also noted that the kingdom's programmer base grew by 35 percent between 2022 and 2023. The Technology and Innovation 2025 report ranks Morocco 67th globally in the «Frontier Technologies Readiness» index, out of 170 economies. Issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) under the title «Inclusive Artificial Intelligence for Development», the index categorizes economies into four groups: high, upper-middle, lower-middle, and low. Morocco scored 0.56 out of 1, placing it in the «upper-middle» group, with higher scores indicating better rankings. In the sub-indices, Morocco ranked 88th in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), 111th in skills, 42nd in research and development, 48th in industry, and 33rd in finance. The report highlighted Morocco as one of the economies with the fastest growth in the number of programmers, showing a 35% growth rate between 2022 and 2023. It ranked seventh, behind Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Singapore, India, and Hong Kong. The report noted that between 2022 and 2024, many developing countries showed significant improvements, citing Bhutan, India, Morocco, the Republic of Moldova, and Timor-Leste as having advanced in human capital, thanks to increased years of education and a larger share of high-skilled labor in the workforce. It also mentioned that some middle-income developing countries, including Morocco, have demonstrated «high capabilities in adopting and developing artificial intelligence». Morocco, along with Egypt, exceeded global averages in both indices, partly due to undersea cables in the Mediterranean connecting them to Europe and beyond. In the Arab world, Morocco ranked fifth, behind the United Arab Emirates (35th globally), Saudi Arabia (50th), Kuwait (56th), and Bahrain (65th). In Africa, Morocco ranked second, behind South Africa (52nd globally). Morocco outperformed its Maghreb neighbors: Tunisia ranked 75th, Libya 90th, Algeria 103rd, and Mauritania 146th. Globally, the United States ranked first, followed by Sweden, the United Kingdom (third), the Netherlands (fourth), Singapore, Switzerland, South Korea, Germany (eighth), and Ireland and France (tied for tenth). The report highlighted that artificial intelligence could impact 40% of jobs worldwide, potentially increasing productivity, as many people will be required to incorporate this technology into their tasks. AI is expected to impact the job market in various ways, potentially replacing human labor, complementing human tasks, increasing automation, or contributing to the creation of new jobs, particularly in research and development related to AI. By 2033, artificial intelligence is projected to reach a market value of approximately $4.8 trillion. However, the report notes that only 100 companies—mainly in the United States and China—currently control about half of the global spending on AI research and development.
