Africa For A Weekend 6: Morocco🇲🇦

For only a £15 flight, 3 hours away from the UK.

And at the intersection of Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Morocco was a must-visit for me.

Africa For A Weekend™, Season 2, Episode 1 - brought me to Morocco 🇲🇦

My first time in Morocco last week was a learning experience as I've never been to North Africa.

Here's 3 things I learned:

1️⃣ Moroccans are superior negotiators.

When shopping at the markets (souks), paying for hotels (riads) or using taxi's, Moroccan's regularly out-negotiated me. Although I read a few books on negotiating, those guys are living it. I found myself regularly overpaying for things. My only solution was to make local friends who would negotiate on my behalf. When negotiating in Morocco as a tourist, proceed with caution!

2️⃣ Morocco is a cash-heavy economy.

Even moreso than in other African countries like Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania. In order to pay for things I'd have to make regular trips to the ATM to withdraw cash. I found this confusing because I was told that Morocco has a more mature financial infrastructure than most African countries. This cash heaviness also meant I'd often win negotiations by simply not having enough cash on me. I think that tourists like myself would spend a lot more money if we could pay digitally using mobile money (possible FinTech opportunity?🤔)

3️⃣ Morocco is extremely affordable.

Despite the fact that I'd often get overcharged as a tourist, the real prices for things are actually very cheap. Travelling 170km between cities like Essaouira and Marrakech costs less than £5. Airbnb's even as a tourist cost £15 per night. Food is also very cheap and is only expensive you eat a lot (like me 😋)

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Overall, I'm glad I made this last-minute trip to Morocco. I learned a lot, made a lot of new friends, and it gave me new ideas (like a FinTech solution to allow local merchants to easily accept digital payments from tourists, thus boosting transaction volume). I definitely have to go again!