Amid threats of economic crisis, Morocco gets mammoth mall that highlights economic divides

CASABLANCA, Morocco Inaugurated by popstar Jennifer Lopez in front of the cream of Moroccan society, Casablancas 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 Moroccos 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 Moroccos 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.

It is a great honor for Morocco to have a project of such dimensions, said Salwa Akhannouch, head of the Aksal group and the driving force behind the mall, at its opening this month.

Most Moroccans will not be shopping at the mall.

The country has some of the lowest literacy and highest unemployment rates and the highest income disparity in the Middle East and North Africa, according to the Gini coefficient, a statistical tool used by economists to measure th! e inequa lity of distribution in a country. The disparity has been growing every year.

Crowds packed the mall in the weeks after it opened, ambling through sunlit galleries and gazing at the aquarium and the 350 stores on offer. Periodically, colorfully dressed performers, some from as far away as Eastern Europe, would burst into enthusiastic dance routines to the accompaniment of loud drums.

There were few shopping bags in sight, however, and most seemed just curious to finally see this much-talked-about monument to shopping that has been four years and $260 million in the making.

There is a big gulf between the rich and the poor and the rich just seem to be getting richer and the poor, poorer the mall is a symbol of that, said Hassan Ali, a 45-year-old shopkeeper selling handtooled leather jackets in Casablancas modest old quarter.

Tourism is a vital part of the malls plan, according to its secretary general, Jenane Laghrar, who anticipates 20 percent of its estimated 12 million annual visitors will come from abroad. She said sales for the first week were on target.