Delegates at a recent conference held in Morocco heard of the diverse macro-economic factors that are driving a range of investment opportunities in Morocco’s port sector that could lead to US$8 billion of investment.
Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have allowed the country to speed up its plans by offering international investors attractive returns on Moroccan assets..
“We want to be much more competitive and speed up investment. We want to move from the traditional model of state funding to private investments via PPPs,” explained Aziz Rabbah, Moroccan minister of equipment, transport and logistics.
Among the proposed investments is an estimated US$8 billion for port infrastructure at the Ports of Tanger-Med and Casablanca, which will include further development for the two ports, where work on container terminal 3 (CT3) is already underway.
Rachid Hadi, general manager of Casablanca port for operator Marsa Maroc said: “This investment [in CT3] will not only deliver a productivity boost from new equipment at container terminal 3 such as cranes and RTGs for example but will help renew and upgrade operations across the whole port.”
Growth in West African port development is also set to drive opportunities in Morocco.