Morocco is taking South Africa's car investment, and the transcript says investors are already looking north
A discussion on eNCA (YouTube) weighs what Morocco's industrial growth and market access mean for a South African economy that is not creating jobs.
South Africa’s car industry has drawn the world’s biggest manufacturers, and a discussion carried by eNCA (YouTube) asks whether that advantage is now being tested by Morocco.
The segment, published on 28 October 2026, weighs Morocco’s economic growth, its industrialisation and its market access against South Africa’s position at the southern tip of the continent. One participant in the discussion described Morocco’s rise as good for the continent but raised the investor’s view: a company looking to enter a new African market would weigh geography, and Morocco’s placement gives it an opening.
The concern put forward was not only about winning the next investment. It was about losing the one already here. “If our economy isn’t growing, our job numbers aren’t there,” the participant said, listing those among the issues raised earlier in the discussion. The argument was that a supply chain built for Morocco could make it harder for South Africa to win that investment back later.
The discussion also noted the scale of what South Africa has already attracted. Global automobile makers are present in the country, among them Toyota, Ford, BMW and Mercedes, a development described in the segment as positive for South Africa because the country drew them in and they set up operations here.
But the same discussion reported hearing from those manufacturers that other African countries are offering attractive investment opportunities. Morocco was named in connection with automotives in that part of the conversation.
The segment does not offer figures for investment flows, job numbers or production, and it does not establish how much of South Africa’s automotive base is at risk. What it records is a concern being voiced on air about competition for the same investors, and the question of whether South Africa’s growth and employment record is enough to keep them.
Watch the discussion on eNCA (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guxKaM0YRcU
