Two suggestions from me are:
1. Tunisia. It grew quite quickly in the 1970s "
but this proved unsustainable and [its growth rate] collapsed to a cumulative 10% growth in the turbulent eighties." The article also talks about its modest oil reserves compared to its neighbours, so maybe Tunisia could become a country that looks at things like renewable energy and desalination technology before some of the Arabian states do. Imagine a Tunisia that is developing more or less in line with Southern European nations or the aforementioned Asian Tigers and thus is more a hub for technological innovation, exporting energy generated by solar panels to Europe, or investing in technology that would aid in its specific situation; for me that would mean something like
metabolic engineering to have crops grow in salty water and then maybe using the
Chott El Djerid to irrigate a much larger percentage of its territory. It's also ideally situated centrally on the south coast of the Mediterranean, where it can easily trade with wealthier Europe and could invest in larger container/shipping ports as a halfway stop between Gibraltar and Suez. It has good potential for tourism due to its climate and history. It could also look to sign earlier trade agreements with the EU, which would again help its economy.
2. Morocco.
Morocco was aiming for growth rates of between 6.5% and 7.5% according to Wikipedia. However, I also know it
got into a pissing match with neighbouring Algeria due to a disagreement about where their border should lie exactly. This meant that both Morocco and Algeria spent more on their militaries than was really necessary, which I suppose was all money that could have been invested into other areas of the economy.
The border between Morocco and Algeria has been closed since 1994. It would maybe also help if Morocco could gain control over Western Sahara with more Western Saharan consent - although I don't have time to explore how that would be achieved right now. However, my basic premise is that the border between Morocco and Algeria is definitively settled before the independence of both countries and this results in more trade between Morocco and Algeria, more money invested into the Moroccan economy, and maybe less Algerian opposition to Morocco's annexation of Western Sahara and the Western Saharans being 'happier' at Moroccan annexation because Morocco is richer ITTL. Like Tunisia, Morocco is close to Europe, so trade is easier.
I could also imagine a scenario where, with the second POD and good Moroccan-Algerian relations ITTL, that you could see a Northwest African EEZ being created between Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia that would benefit all three of their economies. This could also be in a kind of loose agreement with the EU, maybe even with FoM of people given there are already lots of Moroccans in Spain and Algerians in France IOTL.
Regards,
Northstar
As an addendum, I could see a more economically developed Morocco maybe being quite liberal for the Muslim world, maybe even with LGBTQ+ rights on par with OTL Turkey. I say this because I went on a date with a Moroccan guy last year and he told me that there are lots of rumours that
Mohammed IV of Morocco is a closet homosexual. His Wikipedia states he has a wife and doesn't mention homosexuality, but a Google search reveals two journalists tried to blackmail him over it. He's known for his social reforms and liberalisation. Now, I'm not saying the king would be openly gay, but I could imagine a situation whereby an already more developed and more liberal Morocco with closer links to the EU ITTL, sees Mohammed IV ascend to the throne and he legalises homosexuality "to secure more trading and economic opportunities with the EU" as the pretext for doing so and the EU being happy to provide that smokescreen. But maybe that's wishful thinking.