Fouad Laroui


Fouad Laroui is a Moroccan economist and writer, born in Oujda, Morocco. After his studies in the Lycée Lyautey, he joined the prestigious École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, where he studied engineering. After having worked in the Office Cherifien des Phosphates company in Khouribga, he moved to the United Kingdom where he spent several years in Cambridge and York. Later he obtained a PhD in economics and moved to Amsterdam where he is currently teaching econometrics and environmental science. In addition, he is devoted to writing.
He is also a literary chronicler for the weekly magazine Jeune Afrique and Economia magazine, and the French-Moroccan radio Médi1.

Political positions in Morocco

During the Arab Spring, he published a column criticizing the "February 20 Movement" which led the protest in 2011 within the Cherifian Kingdom. Laroui declares this : "the Arab Spring does not exist". This declaration has been the subject of criticism from Moroccan bloggers and activists such as Larbi.org, Mahdi Zahraoui and Younes Benmoumen.
Since 2015, he has regularly contributed to the news site Le360.ma, "a general site deemed to the palace" according to the Courrier international. He belongs to someone close to Mounir Majidi, the King of Morocco private advisor, according to Le Monde.
In December 2019, he was appointed member of the Special Committee on Model of Development by the King of Morocco.

Awards and honours