meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Pursuit of political stability dominates Maghreb

11 July 2025

 

Across the Maghreb, amid a range of external and internal pressures, the pursuit of political stability is emerging as the overarching preoccupation for governments as they compete for trade, growth and investor interest.

Wracked by drought, years of disruption due to Covid-19 and the impact of the war in Ukraine on grain prices, and now facing the boot of arbitrary US tariffs, the economies of the region need certainty more than anything.

With fast-growing populations, all of the Maghreb countries face serious challenges in maintaining sufficient job creation to cater to their youth, and with local spending constraints, attracting foreign investment is key.

None of the Maghreb countries seem to understand this better than Morocco, which has been rolling out what might be described as a GCC-style vision for the country. Most recently, in September 2024, it launched the Digital Morocco 2030 strategy to use artificial intelligence to improve access to services in rural and underserved areas.

Such initiatives are central to Morocco’s broader New Development Model (NDM) strategy, first laid out in 2021 and recognised by bodies such as the Washington-based IMF as a key driver of economic transformation in the country. Key indicators for the NDM include doubling the country’s GDP per capita to $16,000 by 2035, doubling the rate of women in the workforce, raising renewables to 40% of total energy consumption and developing the digital sector to account for 5% of GDP.

Rabat is also widening the country’s social security net, having expanded family allowances in 2023, and with plans to expand old-age pensions and unemployment benefits in 2025. The government is also improving access to services for Amazigh speakers in answer to loud political calls since the 2016-17 Amazigh-led Hirak Rif movement protests.

From creating jobs to supporting vulnerable groups and minorities, the common thread in Rabat’s domestic policy is expediting measures to address emerging risks to social and political stability at source.

Externally, Morocco has meanwhile intensified its diplomatic campaign for international recognition of its semi-autonomy plan for Western Sahara. First proposed in 2007, the scheme initially received little traction, but the situation changed significantly in 2020 with then US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the territory as part of a deal to normalise ties with Israel. In 2022, Spain also shifted its stance to one of support for Rabat’s autonomy plan, followed by France in early 2024 and by the UK in June 2025 – each country for their own reasons.

The fresh support is a diplomatic sea change for Morocco after 30 years of across-the-board rejection of its claims to the territory and calls for Sahrawi self-determination. It also boosts Rabat’s effort to secure more foreign direct investment (FDI) into Western Sahara and local projects, such as the Morocco-UK XLinks energy initiative.

For Madrid, the recognition also resolves a point of contention between the two neighbours, particularly ahead of the pending co-hosting of the 2030 Fifa World Cup by Morocco, Spain and Portugal.

Advances in Algiers

Across the border in Algeria, the wheels of legislative change have also been slowly turning, with new hydrocarbons and investment laws, accompanied by the lifting of some restrictions on foreign ownership, raising the possibility of boosting inbound FDI.

The government is also emphasising private sector-led growth and the rationalising of public spending, as well as initiatives to improve the business environment by reforming public banks and state-owned enterprises.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune secured his re-election for a second term in September 2024 with the support of 84.3% of the vote, in a reassuring referendum on the political stability of the country’s post-Bouteflika political order.

Although the country’s politics remain marred by the suppression of the opposition, the broader shake-up in government is reflected in the ongoing reforms and demonstrates the country’s political awareness of the need to deliver.

In a mirror image of Morocco’s diplomatic journey, Algiers has worsening foreign relations with Paris and Madrid due to its staunch opposition to the Western recognition of Moroccan claims to the Western Sahara region.

In May 2025, Algeria expelled 15 French diplomatic agents, citing their “irregular positions” on the geopolitical issue. The incident matched similarly negative responses by Algeria to Spain in 2022.

Trouble in Tripoli

Libya remains deeply mired in the political deadlock between its two administrations – even as the years of rivalry between the administration has made it clear to all involved of the need for reunification for the stability of the country.

Talks to establish a unified interim government and hold national elections have stalled over the past year, however, with armed clashes between rival militias in Tripoli in May 2025 only reaffirming the precarious state of affairs in the country.

The UN remains central to Libya’s peace process, and in early 2025, the UN appointed Hanna Tetteh as the Special Representative for Libya, while a 20-member Libyan Advisory Committee was established to address contentions over the proposed electoral process.

In May, the committee then outlined some potential solutions, but political consensus remains elusive, leaving little near-term hope for a resolution to the situation in the country.

Turbulence in Tunisia

Tunisia, meanwhile, faces issues stemming largely from political instability inflicted upon it under President Kais Saied, who has ruled by decree since dissolving the country’s parliament in 2021. In March 2025, Saied dismissed his third prime minister in less than two years and appointed Sara Zaafarani in their place.

Saied was re-elected in an October 2024 election with over 90% of the vote, but the process was marred by both low turnout and the arrest of several opposition figures.

Tunis, under Saied’s leadership, is the exception to the rule amid the Maghreb's pursuit of greater political stability. One rare area of success for the president has been in extracting financial support out of the EU in exchange for curbing trans-Mediterranean migration routes emanating from Tunisia.

More broadly, however, Tunisia’s deepening economic challenges, low growth and deteriorating public services under the watch of Saied’s autocratic political experiment serve to underline how the region’s most viable route to economic prosperity remains through providing the kind of political stability in which investors can trust.

The region’s need for trade and growth-boosting policies will only be emphasised from 1 August, when Trump’s pledge for tariffs of 30% on Algeria and Libya, 25% on Tunisia and 20% on Morocco comes due.

While the US only reflects a small fraction of the outbound trade of each of these countries, further dents to growth are something that the region can ill-afford. Here, too, political stability may be key in enabling the respective powers that be to make diplomatic overtures compelling enough to entice Trump to back down.

MEED’s August 2025 report on the Maghreb also includes:

> ECONOMY: Maghreb economies battle trading headwinds
> LIBYA OIL: Oil company interest in Libya increases
> ALGERIA INDUSTRY: Algeria’s industrial strategy builds momentum 
> POWER & WATER: Slow year for Maghreb power and water awards
> CONSTRUCTION: World Cup 2030 galvanises Morocco construction

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14248342/main.jpg
John Bambridge

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Veolia wins Jordan water services contract

    18 February 2026

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    France's Veolia has signed a four-year performance-based management contract with the Water Authority of Jordan to support water and wastewater services in the country’s northern governorates.

    Under the contract, Veolia will provide operations, maintenance and management services to Yarmouk Water Company, the public utility responsible for water supply and wastewater services in the region.

    The agreement covers Irbid, Jerash, Ajloun and Mafraq, an area spanning nearly 30,000 square kilometres and covering about 3 million people.

    The scope includes water and wastewater operations, maintenance, billing and collection, and customer service.

    According to the firm, the performance-based structure prioritises measurable improvements, including service delivery, cost efficiency and revenue management.

    The company said it will deploy technical and management specialists to support operations, rehabilitation works and investment initiatives.

    The contract builds on Veolia’s existing operational role in Jordan’s water sector. The company operates the Disi-Amman scheme, which supplies about 100 million cubic metres of drinking water a year, under an operations and maintenance contract.

    It also operates the Al-Samra wastewater treatment plant, which produces about 133 million cubic metres of treated wastewater annually for agricultural reuse.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15684109/main0535.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • PIF-backed firm signs worker accommodation deal

    17 February 2026

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Saudi Arabia's Smart Accommodation for Residential Complexes Company (Sarcc) has signed an agreement with Riyadh-based Mawref Company to develop a 12,000-bed worker accommodation project in North Riyadh.

    The project will cover about 120,000 square metres (sq m), with a total built-up area of 150,000 sq m.

    The development is expected to cost over SR669m ($178m), with the first phase slated for completion in 2029.

    Sarcc is backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the Saudi sovereign wealth vehicle.

    The agreement follows Sarcc signing another agreement in September last year with privately-owned local firm Tamimi Global Company to explore collaboration in developing worker accommodation facilities in the kingdom.

    The PIF launched Sarcc in October 2024 with the aim of developing and operating staff housing and accommodation assets in the kingdom.

    Sarcc will develop and operate the staff accommodation facilities at major construction projects in Saudi Arabia.

    The company will seek opportunities to invest in the sector to strengthen staff housing standards. Sarcc will also look to engage the private sector by enabling investment and partnership opportunities in sectors including construction, catering, transportation and retail.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15672262/main.gif
    Yasir Iqbal
  • KBR wins 10-year maintenance contract from Petro Rabigh

    17 February 2026

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Saudi Arabia's Rabigh Refining & Petrochemical Company (Petro Rabigh) has awarded US-based consultant KBR a 10-year contract to provide maintenance services covering the company’s polymer plants in Rabigh, on the kingdom’s Red Sea coast.

    “This [contract award] marks a major step in Petro Rabigh’s transformation journey, supporting safer operations, stronger reliability and long-term improvement across its facilities,” Petro Rabigh said in , without providing further details.

    Work on the operations and maintenance contract will be executed by KBR’s  business line, which operates under the Houston-headquartered firm’s Technology Solutions portfolio, sources told MEED.

    Prior to this contract, in March 2024, Petro Rabigh awarded KBR a similar five-year asset condition monitoring programme contract. As part of that job, KBR is to provide predictive maintenance services at Petro Rabigh’s main plant.

    Petro Rabigh was originally established in 1989 as a basic topping refinery with crude oil processing facilities, located in Rabigh, 165 kilometres to the north of Jeddah in Mecca Province.

    Saudi Aramco and Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical Company formed an equal joint venture in 2005 to transform the Petro Rabigh crude oil refining complex into an integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex, with the strategic objective of expanding Saudi Arabia’s annual production capacity of refined products and petrochemicals.

    Three years after the creation of the Petro Rabigh joint venture, the partners floated 25% of its shares in an initial public offering on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) in 2008, following which Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical each held 37.5% shares in Petro Rabigh, with the remaining shares listing on the Tadawul.

    In October last year, however, Aramco completed the acquisition of an additional 22.5% stake in Petro Rabigh from Sumitomo Chemical. Following the completion of the transaction, valued at $702m or SR7 a share, Aramco became the majority shareholder in Petro Rabigh, with an equity stake of 60%, while Sumitomo retains an interest of 15%. The remaining 25% shares of Petro Rabigh continue to trade on the Tadawul.

    ALSO READ: Petro Rabigh and Indian firm to study joint project investment

    Following the formation of the Petro Rabigh joint venture in 2005, Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical launched the expansion of the refining facility into an integrated refining and petrochemicals complex in 2006, investing $9.8bn in the project, 60% of which was secured through external financing. Engineering, procurement and construction works on phase one were completed in 2009, with the integrated downstream complex entering operations in November of that year.

    The Petro Rabigh downstream complex consists of a topping refinery that has a 340,000 barrel-a-day (b/d) crude distillation unit, a 47,000 b/d hydrotreater, a 12 million cubic-feet-a-day hydrogen plant, a 75,000 b/d naphtha merox unit and a 60,000 b/d kerosene merox unit, along with supporting utilities, product tankage and a marine terminal.

    Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical initiated Petro Rabigh’s phase two expansion project, valued at $8bn, in 2014. The second expansion phase was commissioned in 2018 and added 15 chemicals plants to the Petro Rabigh complex, raising the facility’s total production capacity to 18.4 million tonnes a year (t/y) of petroleum-based products.  

    The expansion also increased Petro Rabigh’s capacity to process an additional 30 million cubic feet a year of ethane into 2.4 million t/y of ethylene and propylene-based derivatives, and achieved a naphtha output of 3 million t/y.

    Expansion of the main existing chemicals plant and the establishment of a clean fuels complex comprising polyether polyols, naphtha treating and sulphur recovery units were also part of the phase two project.

    Photo credit: Petro Rabigh on LinkedIn

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15670196/main5008.jpg
    Indrajit Sen
  • Bidders await NWC decision on sewage contract

    17 February 2026

     

    Saudi Arabia’s National Water Company (NWC) is evaluating five bids for package 12 of its long-term operations and maintenance (LTOM12) sewage treatment programme.

    Known as the North Western B Cluster, LTOM12 forms part of the second phase of NWC’s rehabilitation of sewage treatment plants programme.

    The contract covers the construction and upgrade of seven sewage treatment plants with a combined capacity of about 162,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d).

    As MEED understands, the companies that have submitted proposals include:

    • Alkhorayef Water & Power Technologies (Saudi Arabia)
    • Civil Works Company (Saudi Arabia)
    • Miahona (Saudi Arabia)
    • Beijing Enterprises Water Group – BEWG (Hong Kong)
    • Al-Yamama (Saudi Arabia)

    Earlier this month, MEED exclusively reported that six contractors are competing for the North Western A Cluster Sewage Treatment Plants Package 11 (LTOM11), which has an estimated value of about $211m.

    The project involves the construction and upgrade of two sewage treatment plants with a combined capacity of about 440,000 cm/d.

    The scheme is being procured on an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) basis with a long-term operations component. 

    It is understood that contracts for LTOM11 and LTOM12 will be awarded in May.

    In January, a consortium of United Water (China), Prosus Energy (UAE) and Armada Holding (Saudi Arabia) won the main contract for the Northern Cluster Sewage Treatment Plants Package 10 (LTOM10).

    This contract was the first to be awarded under the second phase of NWC’s rehabilitation of sewage treatment plants programme.

    NWC previously awarded $2.7bn-worth of contracts for the first phase of its LTOM programme. This comprises nine packages covering the treatment of 4.6 million cm/d of sewage water for the next 15 years.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15670141/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Lamprell wins Dubai’s Margham gas plant expansion contract

    17 February 2026

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Dubai Petroleum has awarded Lamprell a contract for a project covering the expansion of the Margham gas storage and processing facility, which is operated by state-owned Dubai Supply Authority (Dusup).

    Lamprell’s scope of work on the contract includes engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of civil works, pipe rack structures and associated infrastructure installation. Work on the contract will be delivered by Lamprell’s onshore division.

    The contract awarded to Lamprell by Dubai government-owned Dubai Petroleum forms part of a wider project known as the Sunrise development programme. The aim of the scheme is “to support future capacity enhancements required to meet projected gas demand and the integration of renewable energy sources for end users across the [UAE],” Lamprell said in a statement.

    Lamprell is primarily a contractor and services provider in the offshore oil and gas and wind energy sectors, with its main clients including Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and QatarEnergy. The company has operational bases in Dammam and Ras Al-Khair in Saudi Arabia, while its bases in the UAE are in Hamriyah in Sharjah and Jebeli Ali Free Zone in Dubai.

    The company was previously listed on the London Stock Exchange, from where it delisted following a takeover offer from a consortium of Blofeld Investment Management and AlGihaz Holding for its Saudi Arabia business in 2022. AlGihaz Holding later took full ownership of Lamprell.

    “Expanding our onshore EPC capability is a key pillar of Lamprell’s strategy, and this award directly supports that objective,” Ian Prescott, Lamprell’s CEO, said.

    “We appreciate the confidence [Dubai Petroleum] has placed in Lamprell and look forward to working with our long-standing, valued client. Delivering critical energy infrastructure in the UAE strengthens our onshore portfolio, demonstrates local execution capability and positions the business for further growth in this market,” Prescott said.

    The Margham gas field and associated processing plant are located on the Dubai-Hatta road. It is the largest gas field onshore Dubai. The field contains three gas-bearing geological formations more than 10,000 feet below the surface.

    The Margham field came online in 1984 and has been developed with production and injection gas wells that are connected through a gathering system to the processing plant.

    Initially, the gas was processed to remove water for disposal and condensate for sale and the dry gas was reinjected into the reservoir. At present, the dry gas is sent by pipeline to the Dubai gas grid.

    The gas plant separates the heavier hydrocarbons components and formation water from the gas through a series of cooling, pressure reduction and phase separation steps.

    The remaining gas stream, substantially free of liquid components, can be either flowed directly to the Dubai gas grid or compressed to a higher pressure if required.

    The raw condensate is brought to product specification by further removal of water and stabilised by distillation. The stabilised condensate is moved by pipeline to Dubai’s main crude oil refinery at Jebel Ali.

    The Margham field has functioned as a strategic gas storage facility for Dubai since 2008, with the ability to inject gas into the reservoir or produce gas to meet Dubai’s seasonal fuel gas requirements.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15669884/main.jpg
    Indrajit Sen