The British consulting firm Brand Finance published its 2023 ranking of the most influential nations in the world on the occasion of its annual Global Soft Power meeting held on March 2, 2023. Morocco has lost influence in this edition but is still in the top 3 African countries.
Morocco is, in fact, in the 55th position while it was in 46th place the previous year. Its score has increased by 4.3 points to 39.2 points. With this score, the Kingdom is on the third step of the African podium, excluding the Middle East, behind Egypt, 38th with 43 points, and South Africa, 40th with 42.5 points. Like Morocco, both countries have also regressed in the Brand Finance ranking, which is the main trend for the African continent.
The world’s top three in the ranking are the United States (74.8 points), the United Kingdom (67.3 points) and Germany (65.8 points). In total, nearly 121 countries were analyzed.
The consulting firm judged the Soft Power of nations. According to Joseph Nye, a professor, analyst and theorist in international relations who originated the concept, soft power is the ability of a state to influence and shape international relations in its favor through intangible means such as culture. It is opposed to hard power, which is based on the use of military power and economic sanctions in order to impose its will on others.
Brand Finance takes into account several key factors here, namely familiarity, linked to the knowledge of nations by foreign populations, a strong and positive reputation at the global level, as well as the degree of influence of the country on the world stage. The latter is composed of eight pillars: business and trade, governance, international relations, culture and heritage, media and communication, education and science, people and their values, and participation in a sustainable future. This ranking was based on surveys of the general public and specialized audiences.
