In its 2018 report, UNCTAD considers Morocco as the most maritimely connected country in Africa. The country has been improving its position in the ranking since 2004. Morocco is the most maritimely connected country in Africa, according to the recent report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The North African Kingdom is ranked 1st in Africa by UNCTAD's report made public on Tuesday, 2nd of October, «Review of Maritime Transport 2018», when it comes to the level of maritime connectivity in the current year. Morocco led the African ranking, positioned ahead of Egypt 2nd, South Africa 3rd, Djibouti 4th and Togo 5th. It also scored 71.5 out of 188 points, ranked second in the Arab world behind the United Arab Emirates which topped Asia with 83.9 points. In its report, UNCTAD indicates that Morocco is being part of the countries that signed several conventions related to maritime connectivity, such as the carriage of goods by sea, the international multimodal transport and the registration of ships. Bettering its performance since 2004 Morocco's performance was improved compared to the previous year. In 2017, the Kingdom was also considered as the country with the strongest maritime connectivity in Africa. According to the results revealed by UNCTAD, it improved its performance scoring 69 points, ahead of Egypt (54.6) and South Africa (37.4). «Morocco has improved its status in the Index thanks to its performance in transshipping from the Tangier Med hub», said the UN agency in its 2017 connectivity report. But before topping Africa Morocco made baby steps in the survey. The Kingdom's maritime connectivity scored only 9.39 points in 2004. Its performance declined, reaching 8.68 and 8.54 in 2005 and 2006 respectively. In 2010, Morocco bettered its score which reached 29.79 and moved to 68.28 in 2015. In 2016 and 2017 UNCTAD granted the country 61.89 and 69.35 points respectively. «The largest container ships, with a maximum capacity of 18,506 equivalent twenty feet (TEU), deployed between Europe and East Asia, also stop at ports in South Asia and Southeast as well as in North Africa, especially in Morocco», indicates the study. The UNCTAD's level of connectivity ranking was topped by China 1st, Singapore 2nd, South Korea 3rd, Malaysia 4th, and the Netherlands 5th. According to the report's global findings «global economic expansion is the main driver of world shipping demand, and 2017 will be remembered as the year when the world economy and global shipping experienced a cyclical recovery from historical lows of 2006».
