After 17 years of operations in the country, international delivery business UPS has finally formed a wholly owned subsidiary in Morocco. This is only the second country in Africa it has done this with, with South Africa being the other country.

Morocco’s relations with other countries is one of the reasons UPS has decided to make the move. UPS claims that the country has duty free access to one billion consumers in 55 countries and 60% of the world’s GDP.

At a gala dinner in Casablanca yesterday celebrating the move by UPS, Jean-François Condamine, President, UPS Indian Subcontinent, Middle East, and Africa District said, “Our significant and continuous investments in Africa and the Middle East demonstrate our dedication to help our customers grow in the region and to connect a unified global network. UPS carries the equivalent of 2% of the world’s GDP across 220 countries and territories and successfully delivers more than 18 million packages and documents a day. We want Morocco to benefit from our expertise in order to increase its contribution to the global economy.” Morocco stands to benefit from the investment in high skilled jobs as well as infrastructure from the new business.

Mohamed Aziz Bensouda, CEO of UPS Maroc, added: “Morocco has access to a large market of 55 countries representing more than one billion customers and 60% of the world’s GDP. By opening UPS Maroc, we will continue supporting our clients and help them develop their business through our logistics expertise, the strength of our global network and connectivity with the entire world.”

With the US a mature market and apparently unable to grow much more in Europe, UPS is looking to emerging markets to help expand its business. This move into North Africa signals confidence in its plans to develop Arab and Saharan Africa for growth in the coming years.