A planned new industrial city in Morocco could see $10bn in investments over a decade lead to creation of 100,000 jobs, raising the country’s profile as a regional centre for manufacturing in the years to come.
In late March King Mohammed VI and Chinese aviation group Haite signed a preliminary financing agreement for the Mohammed VI Tangiers Tech City, a $10bn industrial and technology city spanning 2000 ha near the city of Tangiers.
The project will be built in three phases and financed by Haite, domestic bank BMCE and the Moroccan government, though details of each partner’s financial contribution have not yet been released. As the project’s development picks up, the government also hopes to attract investments from some 200 multinationals.
In the same month King Mohammed VI launched the project’s first phase, which will see the construction of industrial complexes on 500 ha of land. The following two phases will add integrated services on 500 ha, followed by construction of residential units on 1000 ha.
Project ambitions
In line with the government’s emphasis on developing its automotive, transport and aviation industries, the tech city’s industrial park will feature manufacturers of car parts, aviation equipment, and road and rail products.
The park will also aim to develop technologies in high-added-value industries, including e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, telecoms hardware and equipment for renewable power generation, as well as sites for producing household appliances, construction materials and agricultural products.
Authorities hope that exports from these segments will reach $5bn within a decade. According to the World Bank, the country’s total exports stood at $22m in 2015.
Upon completion, set for 10 years from the start of construction, the tech city is being designed to house up to 300,000 people and create 100,000 jobs, 90% of which will be allocated to locals.
Tanger-Med
The tech city will benefit from the considerable infrastructure development the country has pursued in recent years, with the national highway growing 17-fold to 1772 km in the 15 years to 2016.
Much of the new city’s export potential will come from Tangiers’ four free zones and its deepwater port, all of which are part of the Tanger-Med complex. Located less than 15 km from Europe, the Tanger-Med Port works as a trans-shipment and export hub and will see its capacity more than double to 8.2m twenty-foot equivalent units when its second terminal, Tanger-Med II, opens in 2018.
These developments align with Morocco’s broader 2014-20 Industrial Acceleration Plan, which aims to raise the share of industrial output to 23% of GDP by 2020, up from 16% last year, partly by developing clusters around existing industries such as aerospace and automotive. The hope is that, through its diversified offerings, the tech city will be able to attract major industrial players, creating supply chains around its new factories.
Signs of progress are emerging. In September last year the government signed an agreement with Boeing to create an industrial park focused on aeronautics to encourage 120 suppliers to open operations in the country. In April French automobile manufacturer Renault signed a series of agreements with local companies to invest Dh10bn (€924.5m) that are expected to create 50,000 local jobs.
Bilateral strategies
The collaboration behind Mohammed VI Tangiers Tech City should also serve to deepen bilateral ties between China and Morocco. Once completed, the city could come to represent the last stop in the Mediterranean for China’s new Silk Road route.
As new agreements are inked between the two nations to fulfil future components of the project, financial flows between them are likely to grow stronger, given China’s need for an access point to the European market and Morocco’s need to attract new investment and boost exports.
