AnMaster.com

Alexkid

Is Morocco really ready for a mega mall?
PAUL SCHEMM
(The Associated Press)



06:05:12AM (ET) Wednesday,December 28,2011.

CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) — Inaugurated by popstar Jennifer Lopez in front of the cream of Moroccan society, Casablanca's first mega mall, complete with two-story-high aquarium, is dripping with glamour and luxury.

While developers describe it as a step bringing Morocco closer to the ranks of the developed world, detractors worry that it is a vanity project that a country teetering on the edge of an economic crisis can ill afford.

Morocco at first seems a curious choice for what its developers are billing as the biggest mall in Africa. It already has world-renowned traditional bazaars featuring exquisite ceramics and rugs that draw tourists from across the globe.

The North African kingdom of 32 million is home to the largest income inequalities in the Arab world — and now hosts Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior and Ralph Lauren boutiques and department store Galeries Lafayette in the new mall, a futuristic, bulbous silver structure perched on Morocco's coast overlooking the crashing waves of the Atlantic.

It is a stark symbol of the contrasts of a country with 8.5 million people in poverty that ranks 130 out of 186 on the U.N.'s human development index, but will still host acts like Shakira and Kanye West for a summer concert series.

The 20-minute coastal drive from downtown Casablanca — Morocco's largest city — to the mall showcases the complexity of the country, with slums hidden from sight by high walls, construction areas for new shopping centers and finally the villas and night clubs of the wealthy.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Morocco is good to go !

__________________
Yeah...Do That.