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There are currently almost seventy nuclear reactors under construction for power generation around the world. But none of these is in Africa. There is indeed only one nuclear power plant on the continent, in South Africa. While Africa has seen numerous projects to develop nuclear energy and even more programmes focused on research and the extraction of uranium, it has scarcely benefitted directly from this type of energy. This article examines the case of Morocco to attempt to explain why, based notably on a comparison with South Africa. The article shows that the transnational conditions necessary for the development of nuclear energy – and notably an operational research reactor within an international nuclear network – have never been met, thus depriving Morocco and other African countries of the advantages (and costs) of nuclear energy.