- Morocco is in talks to attract more electric battery manufacturers as it seeks to adapt to its growing automotive sector.
- The minister said the next steps would be the car platform and the electro-motor.
Moroccan industry and trade minister Ryad Mezzour said Morocco wants to attract more electric battery manufacturers. The country seeks to adapt its growing automotive sector to an increasing demand for electric vehicles. The automotive sector topped Morocco’s industrial exports at $14 billion in 2023, up 27 per cent.
Morocco is home to production plants by Stellantis and Renault, with an annual combined production capacity of 700,000 cars and a cluster of local suppliers.
Last week, the Moroccan government approved the construction of a factory near Tangier by Chinese electric battery maker BTR New Material Group to produce key component cathodes.
Another Chinese manufacturer, CNGR Advanced Material, is expected to build a cathode plant in Jorf Lasfar, 100 kilometres south of Casablanca. The government has allocated 283 hectares to electric battery industries.
Last year, the Moroccan government and China’s Gotion agreed to investigate setting up an electric vehicle battery plant in the kingdom, with an eventual investment of up to $6.3 billion.
Negotiations are also ongoing with five other manufacturers to set up similar plants, he said without giving further details.
While investing in batteries is “one of the paths to prepare the automotive sector for electric mobility requirements,” the minister said that the next steps would be the car platform and the electro-motor.
Mezzour said, “We are switching progressively our value chain and increasing it to be fit to deliver all our markets with a very competitive and integrated value chain.”