"Since the early 2000s, the IDMEs have increased significantly, with their average annual volume rising, according to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) data, from $232.3 million between 2000 and 2009 to $540.2 million in the following decade," BAM pointed out in its annual report on the economic, monetary and financial situation for the financial year 2019.

In a regional comparison, Morocco ranks over the last ten years as the 5th largest African investor abroad, the same source said, noting that as a percentage of GDP, the volume of IDMEs represents only 0.5%, a low proportion compared to the average of emerging and developing countries (EDC) which reaches 1.5%.

Moreover, no Moroccan company has made it into the 100 most active EDC multinationals in terms of foreign investment.

By sector of activity, banks and financial activities are the first investor abroad with a share of 30% of the global stock and a regular outgoing flow of MAD 2 billion on annual average during the last ten years.

Also, insurance companies make significant investments with an average annual volume of MAD 515 million. For their part, telecommunications account for 11% of this stock, the industrial sector for 13.2%, dominated by cement factories and OCP, while investments in the real estate sector posted a strong increase between 2011 and 2015, followed by a marked decline.

By destination, African countries attract most of the EDCs, Côte d'Ivoire being the leading investment country, with 13.3% of the stock at the end of 2017, followed by Mauritius (6%) and Egypt (3.5%).

Outside Africa, the main countries are Luxembourg, France and Great Britain with shares of 6.9%, 6.2% and 3.3% respectively.