Morocco is expected to become a green mobility leader in the Middle East and North Africa following a recent announcement on the construction of a “gigafactory” to make electric vehicle (EV) batteries, the Washington-based Middle East Institute said in a recent report.
Moroccan Minister of Industry, Ryad Mezzour, said that the deal, if signed, will establish a very significant production facility. No further information was given about the potential company to take part in this project.
The minister said that Rabat hopes to sign a $2 billion deal before the end of this year, according to the Middle East Institute (MEI).
This deal follows Rabat’s plans to increase Morocco’s output to 1 million vehicles per year by 2025, with many of those being EVs.
Morocco’s expansion of its automotive ecosystem will help it rise tremendously as a green mobility manufacturing giant. The promising project shall locally manufacture Li-ion batteries, which represent 30% to 40% of the cost of the average EV.
With this new project, Morocco hopes to produce around 300,000 additional EVs.
Rabat’s smart industrial planning and careful cultivation of foreign partnerships, and nearshoring, are the engine of the self-reinforcing momentum propelling the advancement of its automotive manufacturing sector, says the Middle East Institute.
Rabat fueled the momentum for nearshoring in Morocco through its Industrial Acceleration Plan set between 2014 and 2020, and its concurrent development of high-speed, high-volume capacity transportation that oversaw the construction of the Tangier Med Port which is the Mediterranean’s largest port, as well as the al-Boraq rail line linking between Casablanca and Tangier, Africa’s first high-speed rail system.
As a result of the nearshoring momentum, Europe’s two best-selling car models the Peugeot 208 and Renault’s Dacia Sandero are both made in Morocco.
Now, Rabat has its sights on manufacturing the EV versions of these models.
Starting in 2020, Renault has shifted its entire Dacia Sandero production from Romania to the company’s plants that are based in Casablanca and Tangier, which can be justified by the 50% lower labor costs.
The Renault and Peugeot plants in Morocco are supported by approximately 250 international suppliers from the U.S., Europe, Japan, and other countries that operate their own local manufacturing plants.
For example, the Chinese firm CITIC Dicastal, a global leader in aluminum cast parts, built a $400 million plant in Kénitra that can produce up to 6 million pieces annually to supply Peugeot.
Morocco could potentially lead a green mobility revolution by powering the production of EVs using renewable energy.
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