Industrial acceleration zones (ZAI) in Morocco in 2026: a complete overview

Morocco set up the ZAIs to:

• Attract technology-intensive foreign direct investment
• Develop export industrial sectors (automotive, aeronautics, electronics, textiles, processed agri-food, batteries)
• Create skilled jobs in integrated industrial clusters
• Strengthen logistics competitiveness around the major ports (Tanger Med) and airports

Law No. 19-94 on export free zones, supplemented by its implementing texts, forms the legal basis of the ZAIs. The 2020 Finance Law replaced the expression "export free zones" with "industrial acceleration zones" and overhauled their IS regime, now applied to the entire profit without distinction between local and export sales.

Each ZAI is created or extended by decree, after review by the National Commission for Industrial Acceleration Zones (Commission nationale des zones d'accélération industrielle). The activities authorized in the zone are set by regulation. Development and management are entrusted to a developer-operator (aménageur-développeur) (for example Tanger Med Zones, a subsidiary of TMSA, for the Tangier hub).

The Tangier and Kenitra zones were extended in 2024 and 2025. Not all integrated industrial platforms (P2I) are ZAIs. Offshoring parks such as Tetouan Shore or parks geared towards the domestic market such as Tetouan Park fall under other schemes. The steps specific to the Tangier hub are detailed in the guide to setting up a company in the Tangier free zone.

In 2026, the General Tax Code (Code Général des Impôts, CGI) exempts a company located in a ZAI from IS for the 5 consecutive financial years following the start of operations, then taxes it at 20%, and exempts it from VAT (with right of deduction), as well as from professional tax for 15 years; construction and assembly works companies are excluded from the regime, whereas the zone developer can benefit from it. The details of each benefit, the convergence of the IS rate initiated by the LF 2023 and the taxation of dividends paid to non-residents are explained in our guide to the advantages of a company in a free zone.

On the customs and foreign exchange side, goods brought into the zone are exempt from duties and taxes, and the company benefits from a specific foreign exchange regime set out in the General Instruction on Foreign Exchange Operations (IGOC) of the Office des Changes (foreign currency accounts, transfer guarantee for non-resident investors and MRE who have contributed funds in foreign currency). Trade between a ZAI and the rest of the territory is, however, treated as imports and exports, under the control of the ADII, which is present in each zone: sales on the local market therefore bear customs duties and import VAT.

To set up durably in a ZAI, the investor must:

1. Check that its activity is among those authorized in the zone
2. Sign an installation contract (lease or acquisition) with the developer
3. Obtain the installation approval processed by the developer
4. Register a company under Moroccan law in the Commercial Register, with the registry of the competent commercial court (Law 15-95), then register with the zone's customs office
5. Comply with the environmental and safety specifications (cahier des charges) and its investment and employment commitments

The public costs of formation remain those of ordinary law: OMPIC negative certificate (232.76 MAD online), registry (about 1,200 MAD), legal announcements. Failure to meet the commitments may result in loss of the benefit of the ZAI regime.

The ZAI regime does not exempt companies from their social, accounting and commercial obligations:

• CNSS affiliation and employer CNSS declarations (Dahir 1-72-184 of 27 July 1972), with standard contributions (21.09% employer / 6.74% employee = 27.83%, monthly ceiling of 6,000 MAD for social benefits)
• Accounts kept in accordance with Law 9-88 and the CGNC, filing of the financial statements with the registry, in line with the accounting obligations of Moroccan companies
• Retention of documents for 10 years (Article 211 of the CGI)
• Compliance with the Labour Code (Law 65-99) for contracts, working time and health and safety

Charikaty is a private Moroccan legal-tech platform that sets up your company 100% online. Here is what you need to set up in a ZAI: an activity authorized in the zone, a contract with the developer, the installation approval and a company under Moroccan law registered in the Commercial Register. With Charikaty, you do the whole formation part online, simply and quickly, as permitted by Law No. 88-17 on the electronic creation of companies: OMPIC negative certificate, drafting and electronic signature of the articles of association (Law 43-20), filing of the registration file with the Commercial Register, obtaining the IF, the ICE and the professional tax, then CNSS affiliation. For setting up in a ZAI, we draft, with our subsidiary formation service in Morocco, a corporate purpose consistent with the authorized activity and help you gather the documents requested by the developer. More than 250 companies have already been set up with Charikaty.