Aziz Akhannouch

His mother and sister were survivors of the 1960 Agadir Earthquake that killed ten of his family members; they were reported to have been left buried beneath rubble for several hours before being rescued.

Aziz Akhannouch (عزيز أخنوش; born 31 December 1961) is a Moroccan politician, businessman, and billionaire who is currently the Prime Minister of Morocco since his government took office on 7 October 2021.

Akhannouch was born in 1961 in Tafraout and raised in Casablanca.

He comes from the Amazigh tribe of Souss of Aït Ammeln.

In 1986, Akhannouch graduated from the Université de Sherbrooke with a management diploma.

He is the CEO of Akwa Group, a Moroccan conglomerate particularly active in the oil and gas sector.

From 2003 to 2007, Akhannouch was the president of the Souss-Massa-Drâa regional council.

He is the CEO of Akwa Group and also served as Minister of Agriculture from 2007 to 2021.

Akhannouch's political career has been generally characterized by several controversies, including accusations of corruption and negative relations with the press.

His government has been additionally marked by inflation, as well as continued suppression of dissenting opinions.

It has been suggested that Akhannouch may have been elected by election fraud and vote buying, as the previous party, the PJD saw its support collapse from 125 to just 12 seats.

He served as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries between 2007 and 2021, During this period, he successfully implemented the Green Morocco Plan, an ambitious agricultural development strategy that was introduced by King Mohammed VI in April 2008 and has received international recognition and admiration as a true model and example.

He was a member of the National Rally of Independents party, before leaving it on 2 January 2012.

Forbes estimated his net worth as $1.4 billion in November 2013.

Akhannouch inherited Akwa from his father.

On 23 August 2013 he was appointed by King Mohammed VI as Minister of Finance on an interim basis after Istiqlal ministers resigned from Benkirane's cabinet, a position he kept until 9 October 2013.

In 2015 and 2016, after the Moroccan government of Abdelilah Benkirane decided to liberalize fuel prices, the fuel companies decided to collude with each other and not reduce prices.

Among those companies was the Akwa company, owned by Akhannouch.

On 27 July 2016, Akhannouch met with Jonathan Pershing, Special Envoy for Climate Change for the United States.

They spoke about preparations for the 2016 United Nations Conference of the Parties.

On 29 October 2016, Akhannouch rejoined the RNI after being elected as president of the party.

He took over Salaheddine Mezouar's position, who had resigned following the 2016 general election.

In 2017, the Secretary General of the Istiqlal Party, Hamid Chabat, accused him of stealing 13 billion Moroccan dirhams intended to go towards gas compensation during a party meeting.

At a previous gathering in Fez, he additionally accused Akhannouch of corruption, and implied that his $2 billion fortune was the equivalent of "all that 30 million Moroccans own".

An open letter to King Mohammed VI from blogger Maysa Salama al-Naji published online in June 2021 cited a 400-page report counting corruption charges against Akhannouch.

Akhannouch has been criticized over the suppression of dissenting opinions and imprisonment of opponents, alongside calls for an end to violations of freedom of speech and the right to peaceful demonstration.

In 2020, he was ranked 12th on Forbes's annual list of Africa's wealthiest billionaires, with an estimated net worth of $2 billion.

In March 2020, through his company Afriquia, a subsidiary of the Akwa group, Akhannouch donated roughly one billion dirhams ($103.5 million) to a COVID-19 pandemic management fund founded by King Mohammed VI.

In the 2021 general election, his party placed first, winning 222 seats of the 435 seats, while the governing Justice and Development Party lost 113 of its previous seats.

On 10 September 2021, he was appointed as Prime Minister by King Mohammed VI, succeeding Saadeddine Othmani, and was tasked by the King to form a new government.

Akhannouch announced the formation of an official coalition government alongside the PAM and Istiqlal parties on 22 September 2021, thus officiating his status as Prime Minister-designate of Morocco.

On 7 October 2021, he assumed office as the new Prime Minister.

Since taking office, Akhannouch has represented King Mohammed VI at several foreign engagements and read speeches delivered by him during summits, including at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference.

In late October, Akhannouch was criticized by Moroccan citizens for wearing a pin of the MENA region that excluded Western Sahara while attending a Green Initiative event in Saudi Arabia.

In September 2022, Akhannouch attended the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

On 11 October 2022, Akhannouch met with Prince Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg along with his business partners in Rabat, in order to boost economic trade between Morocco and Luxembourg.

In December 2022, he attended the United States–Africa Leaders Summit 2022 and met with US President Joe Biden.

On 1 February 2023, Akhannouch participated with Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez in the 12th edition of the Morocco-Spain High Level Meeting in Rabat, in which both countries signed a total of 19 bilateral agreements concerning a plethora of sectors.

In July 2023, Akhannouch attended the 2023 Russia–Africa Summit in Saint Petersburg and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Akhannouch was the target of several accusations of corruption during his time as Minister of Agriculture.