Morocco sealed contracts worth €400 million with different French arms manufacturers, said French media adding that the deals will be announced during an expected visit of President Emmanuel Macron to Morocco next February. The deals include a contract worth €200 million signed with Nexter to acquire Caesar self-propelled howitzer and related ammunition, latribune.fr said. Morocco will own 10% of the capital of the plant, to be achieved for a total cost of 300 million dirhams. Morocco and Algeria were ranked by SIPRI as Africa’s largest arm buyers taking 26% and 30% respectively of total arm sales on the continent. In June last year, Morocco and Brazil signed a deal to share military technology reflecting Morocco’s ambition to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign arms.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 23, 2020 00:11 UTC