Kazakhstan looks to Morocco to expand wheat exports across Africa
Kazakhstan plans to use Morocco as a trade and logistics hub to grow its wheat exports to North and West Africa.
MOROCCO – Kazakhstan plans to strengthen its wheat exports to Africa by working more closely with Morocco, as the Central Asian country seeks a larger share of the continent’s growing grain market.
The plan took shape during the first Kazakhstan Morocco Business Council meeting held in Casablanca on July 21. Officials from both countries agreed to strengthen trade links by combining Morocco’s port network with Kazakhstan’s transport corridors to improve grain shipments into North and West Africa.
Asylkhan Dzhuvashev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kazakhstan’s national grain company Prodcorporation, said Morocco will play an important role in that plan. “We see the Kingdom of Morocco not only as a promising market for Kazakh grain products, but also as a strategic logistics and commercial platform to expand our presence in the North and West African markets.”
Trade data shows that Kazakhstan’s wheat exports to Africa remain limited. Figures from Trade Map indicate the country exported wheat worth about US$108 million in 2025, with Algeria receiving 65 percent of the shipments, Morocco taking 32 percent and Egypt accounting for the remaining share.
Although Africa represented only 6.75 percent of Kazakhstan’s wheat export earnings, the market has grown compared with previous years. The country earned nearly US$1.6 billion from global wheat exports in 2025, placing it among the world’s ten largest wheat exporters.
Between 2018 and 2024, Tunisia was the only African buyer of Kazakh wheat, with annual purchases staying below US$25 million. No wheat trade with Africa was recorded in 2022 or 2024, showing that Kazakhstan has struggled to keep steady sales across the continent.
Transport remains one of the main challenges. As a landlocked country located between Russia and China, Kazakhstan depends on efficient transport routes to move grain to Mediterranean ports before it reaches African markets.
North Africa continues to attract major wheat exporters because demand remains high while local production falls short of consumption.
The United States Department of Agriculture expects countries across the region to import about 29.8 million tonnes of wheat during the 2026 to 2027 marketing year.
Russia, France, Romania and Ukraine already hold strong positions in the market. Kazakhstan now hopes closer cooperation with Morocco will help increase its share of Africa’s wheat imports.
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