Aziz Akhannouch

Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch's government has moved quickly to invest its resources in major new pipelines to bring water from dams in the wetter north southwards...

Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch has survived another difficult year in office his government sticking to orthodox economic policies and being rewarded by hosting the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Marrakech only weeks after parts of central Morocco were flattened by a huge earthquake on 8 September (AC Vol 64 No 19 Worst earthquake for 120 years could unleash economic and political tremors)...

At least 300 000 houses and 500 schools will have to be rebuilt Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch told local journalists...

He might struggle to get Morocco's King Mohammed VI to agree but Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch would may be interested in discussions over fertiliser supply deals with Russian producers...

In Morocco businessman-turned-Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch's administration promises change but too little has been delivered in a system where power-brokers close to the Palace still pull many strings...

A heavy police presence helped to keep protests to a minimum while the governing Parti de la Justice et du Développement (PJD) held back from confrontation before suffering a huge election defeat to Aziz Akhannouch's Rassemblement National des Indépendants (RNI) and other parties close to the Palace (AC Vol 62 No 22 The PJD loses its base & Vol 62 No 19 A win for the Makhzen)...

In national elections in September the malfunctioning Islamist Parti de la Justice et du Développement (PJD) government in office since the 2011 Arab Spring was replaced by a liberal-minded administration led by energetic billionaire businessman Aziz Akhannouch (AC Vol 62 No 22 The PJD loses its base & Vol 62 No 19 A win for the Makhzen)...

The effect was clearest in Morocco's parliamentary elections in September when the PJD's Saad Eddine el Othmani was replaced at the head of government by a big business-focused administration under billionaire Aziz Akhannouch (AC Vol 62 No 19 A win for the Makhzen)...

Meanwhile the vote for new Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch's Rassemblement national des indépendants (RNI) the Parti authenticité et modernité (PAM) and some other Makhzen-approved parties was inflated by 'investment' in rural electorates...

When King Mohammed VI (M6) asked billionaire businessman Aziz Akhannouch to form a government their meeting on 10 September formalised the victory of secular over Islamist factions in Morocco's version of the culture wars (AC Vol 60 No 25 Activist King vs the activists)...

PREMIER AKHANNOUCH – THE NEW MAN IN A SUIT A highly ambitious Swasa Berber from the southern Sousse region Aziz Akhannouch has finally achieved his ambition to form a government...