Morocco is at the heart of the global transition to electric vehicles. It is home to many minerals essential for battery manufacturing, including cobalt and manganese. It is also home to almost three-quarters of the world’s phosphate rock reserves.
- – Gotion plans a factory in Kenitra
- – 17,000 jobs to be created
- – Morocco aims to produce electric vehicles
China has announced a second large-scale investment in Morocco’s electric vehicle sector with plans for an electric vehicle battery factory to take advantage of European market access and a booming automotive sector.
A $1.3 billion agreement was signed between the Moroccan government and the Sino-European group Gotion High Tech to build a gigafactory to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles.
The facility will be built in Kenitra, in the northwest of the country.
The first phase of the project is expected to have an initial capacity of 20 gigawatts per hour, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
The factory will also create 17,000 direct, indirect, and induced jobs, including 2,300 highly qualified jobs, said Minister Delegate for Investment Mohcine Jazouli.
Once completed, the capacity will reach 100 GW/h with a global investment of $6.6 billion, he added.
The factory is expected to come into operation in June 2026.
Morocco is at the heart of the global transition to electric vehicles. It is home to many minerals essential for battery manufacturing, including cobalt and manganese. It is also home to almost three-quarters of the world’s phosphate rock reserves.
CNGR Advanced Material, a Chinese manufacturer of battery components, announced last September that it would partner with Al Mada, a conglomerate owned by the Moroccan royal family, to invest 20 billion dirhams ($2 billion) in the construction of a cathode materials factory.
China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt and South Korean chemical manufacturer LG Chem previously revealed plans to build a lithium refinery and cathode materials plant in Morocco.
In June 2022, Renault announced a deal with Moroccan mining company Managem to obtain 5,000 tonnes of low-carbon cobalt sulfate per year, starting in 2025.
Later in the year, Stellantis announced plans to invest more than 300 million euros ($324 million) to double the production capacity of its Kenitra manufacturing plant.
