Olivier is originally from Cameroon and got to Morocco just three months ago to find work. On this Friday in February 2010 his project is to go to the giant Casablanca black market next to a slum to buy a table, chairs, a mop, pots, pans, and other furnishings for his new apartment outside the city, in a town where he heard there is work. Despite the help of his Arabic-speaking friend and translator, Radwan, his attempts to find a good deal are in vain as most of the vendors try to charge him high prices, and he leaves almost empty-handed and disappointed.
People have been migrating in waves to Morocco from Francophone countries in sub-Saharan Africa for only about 10 years now, as Morocco's current economic boom is largely due to the free market policies of the current king Mohamed VI. Students and migrants from different parts of Francophone sub-Saharan African tend to live together as while Morocco offers many opportunities, an atmosphere of overt racism is widespread.