An economist by training, Baraka was born in Rabat in 1964 and earned his baccalaureate in 1981. He went on to study at Mohammed V University’s Faculty of Law, where he obtained a degree in econometrics in 1985. He continued his studies at Aix-Marseille University in France, earning a doctorate in economics in 1992.
Baraka began his career teaching at Mohammed V University’s Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social Sciences before joining the National Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics. In 1996, he moved to the Ministry of Finance, where he held several senior positions.
His political career gained momentum in 2007, when he became minister delegate to the prime minister in charge of economic and general affairs, a post he held until 2011. He then served as minister of Economy and Finance from January 2012 to July 2013, before chairing the Economic, Social and Environmental Council from August 2013 to December 2018.
In October 2017, Baraka was elected secretary-general of the Istiqlal Party. He also led the economic component of the Morocco-US strategic dialogue and chaired the scientific committee of COP22.
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A long record in public and international affairs
Baraka has been involved in numerous national and international associations and organizations. In January 2005, the King appointed him to the Averroes Committee, which works to bring the Moroccan and Spanish peoples closer together.
He also contributed to the 50th Anniversary Report on Human Development and has served on the board of the Securities Ethics Council since 2004. Since 2006, he has been a member of the National Observatory for Human Development.
His work as finance minister earned international recognition. The Banker, a publication of the Financial Times Group, named him “Best Finance Minister in the MENA Region” and “Finance Minister of the Year” for 2012. In 2013, Emerging Markets magazine named him “Middle East and North Africa Finance Minister of the Year.”
