Morocco is ranked as the most attractive country in Africa and in the MENA region by the EY's Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index. Morocco is one of the top ranked countries in Africa and in the Middle East and North Africa region, according to the latest edition of Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI). Conducted by British accounting firm Ernst & Young (EY), the annual report ranks Morocco 13th among 40 countries. These countries are rated on the attractiveness of their renewable energy investment and deployment opportunities, EY indicates. Although Morocco is well positioned in the ranking, its performance and attractiveness decreased compared with the previous edition of the same index. Indeed, in November 2018 the 52nd edition of the Country Attractiveness Index ranked Morocco 12th with a score of 56.6 points. The Kingdom had an excellent performance last year, after it was ranked 15th in 2017. According to data compiled by EY, Morocco is ranked ahead of Egypt (14th), the only North African country featured in the ranking after the Kingdom, Canada (15th), Spain (16th), Brazil (17th) and Italy (18th). Morocco is positioned not very far from big and developed countries, such as Denmark, the UK, Japan and Germany ranked 12th, 8th, 7th and 6th, respectively. Renewable energy in Morocco and its attractiveness The ranking includes two other Middle Eastern states, namely Jordan ranked 31st and Israel 20th. Kenya is the third African country, after Morocco and Egypt, to be featured in the list. The east African country is ranked 37th by EY. The global ranking was topped by China 1st, the US 2nd, France 3rd, India 4th and Australia. Meanwhile, Indonesia 40th, Finland 39th, Peru 38th, Kenya 37th and Norway 36th are at the bottom of the raking. The 53rd edition of the Renewable Attractiveness report was based on a series of global market trends, which allow EY to assess «the factors driving market attractiveness in a world where renewable energy has gone beyond decarbonization and reliance on subsidies». In Morocco, the report indicates that its technology-specific score ranges between 50 and 14 points (100 being the best score). Indeed, Morocco scored 50 points in the PV solar energy, 42 in the onshore wind energy, and 34 in CSP solar energy. On the other hand, the Kingdom's weakest scores are related to marine energy (14), hydro energy (17), geothermal energy (15) and biomass (16). In their latest edition, EY noticed that «renewable energy developers and investors are stepping into a brave new world – one that is increasingly unsubsidized where projects compete on their economic and environmental merits», RECAI chief editor Ben Warren said.
