Morocco is striving to develop its motorway network and modernize the road network. Several major projects are or will be implemented to change the face of the country by 2030, the year in which the kingdom will co-organize the World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal.
While it has already built 1,800 kilometers of highways, comes first in the Maghreb countries, and is second in Africa, Morocco is aiming far. The kingdom wants to seize the opportunity of organizing the 2030 World Cup to increase this to 3,000 kilometers. In an interview with the daily Les Inspirations Éco, the Minister of Equipment and Water, Nizar Baraka highlights the flagship projects that are or will be implemented as part of a well-defined plan. This year, his department is dedicating a budgetary envelope of more than 13 billion dirhams of investment for the development of its infrastructure, intended to support national and sectoral strategies and support the country in its ambitions and in overcoming future challenges. According to the minister, the Moroccan road network provides 90% of people’s travel and 75% of goods transport. Its National Road Infrastructure Plan established for 2040 serves as a compass for developing the road network.
One of its projects is the new Casablanca-Rabat continental highway spanning a length of 60 km with an overall cost estimated at 5 billion dirhams. Another major project: the Southern Expressway consisting of the duplication and widening of national road No. 1 over 1,055 km between Tiznit and Dakhla with an updated overall investment of approximately 8.8 billion dirhams. There is also the road and motorway connectivity of Port Nador West Med, a project aimed at connecting the industrial-port complex to the national motorway network from the Fez-Oujda motorway over a length of 104 km. The investment cost is estimated at 7 billion dirhams through the Guercif-Nador highway. The ministry also intends to upgrade and modernize the road network, build and maintain rural roads with the assistance of the regions as part of the Regional Development Programs. A budgetary envelope of more than 15 billion dirhams will have to be mobilized.
