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The Growth of Mega Ports in Morocco

mega ports in Morocco
Morocco’s geographic location gives it an advantage when it comes to developing the country’s economy. Morocco borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, making it the closest African country to Europe. Mega ports in Morocco are among the many infrastructure developments that are revolutionizing the country as Morocco proceeds to build and expand its transportation infrastructure to connect the two continents.

Tanger Med

The Tanger Med port adopted its name from the port’s home city of Tangier in northwestern Morocco. Because of its important geographic location, Tangier has played a significant role in trade between Africa and Europe since ancient times.

The first site, known as Tanger Med 1, has two terminals. The first terminal started in 2007 after the King of Morocco, King Mohammed VI, laid the first stone in 2002. Following that, the second terminal started just one year later. Tanger Med 1 has a capacity of 3.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs). The terminals created 6,000 jobs at the port and an additional 70,000 jobs in the trade zone area.

After the establishment of Tanger Med 1, the King gave the order for a second container port, Tanger Med 2, with an investment of $1.5 billion. The port contained two more terminals, beginning construction officially in 2015. In the summer of 2019, Tanger Med 2 formally opened. Tanger Med became the largest port in the Mediterranean region, exceeding Valencia and Algeciras’ container ports with six million TEUs. Because of the outstanding performance of Tanger Med, the first of the mega ports in Morocco and the biggest in Africa, the government decided to build similar mega ports in other cities.

Nador West Med

Nador West Med is the second of the mega ports in Morocco. With almost half of its construction complete, the port will be fully ready by the end of 2022. The project will cost $13.8 million, consisting of new infrastructure and an industrial port.

The first phase of the Nador West port will include a 1,520-meter container dock for larger ships. It will also include a 600-meter dock for general goods to serve larger merchant ships. Furthermore, the Nador West Med port will have oil and chemical tankers, each able to carry approximately 170,000 tons.

New road construction will expand the route from six meters to nine meters and fortify the pavement. Nador West Med will have a tremendous socio-economic impact on the region. Once the port opens, it will reduce the unemployment rate with more jobs, allow for easy entry to the region and provide tax benefits for the country.

Dakhla Atlantic Port

Another port, the Dakhla Atlantic Port, will be built in Dakhla, located in a long, narrow peninsula in the southwest of Morocco. In 2020, the King announced significant investments that will cover the southern region of Morocco, including a mega port in Dakhla. This port will enhance many sectors such as fisheries, mining, energy, tourism and agriculture, processing approximately 2.2 million tons of goods yearly. With a cost of roughly $1.1 billion, the port will elevate direct commerce between Africa, Europe and the Americas following its completion in 2026. It will also include a space of 1,650 hectares for industrial and logistical services.

Certainly, mega ports in Morocco are boosting the country’s economy with a powerful presence in the region. Due to its strategic geographic location, Morocco’s ports allow the establishment of more investments and create a significant number of jobs. Moving forward, these mega ports should continue to bring many benefits for the country and the region.

– Zineb Williams
Photo: Unsplash

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5 Ways Morocco’s Economy is Recovering

Morocco's EconomyPreviously, a myriad of tourists had visited Morocco to explore its diverse culture, food, landscapes, history and people. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation has faced a devastating economic crisis. Without its regular influx of tourists or traveling diaspora, Morocco is in the depths of a recession for the first time since 1995. The government is working to ensure that Morocco’s economy can recover from the pandemic.

5 Ways Morocco’s Economy is Recovering

  1. The Mohammed VI Investment Fund: In November 2020, King Mohammed VI established a $1.6 billion economic plan to revive Morocco’s economy due to the economic crisis that the COVID-19 pandemic brought on. Shortly afterward, the International Finance Corporation, as part of the World Bank Group, officially announced its support for the Moroccan Ministry of Economy and Finance’s efforts to boost the country’s economy.
  2. Moroccan Transportation Companies Decrease Prices: In June 2021, King Mohammed VI announced that all transportation companies must make tickets more affordable for Moroccans living abroad. The announcement targeted airlines such as Royal Air Maroc, which dropped flight ticket prices by more than 50% globally. Within a few days of the announcement, flights were being booked much faster than before. During the first week of discounted airline ticket prices, 195,547 people traveled to Morocco.
  3. Other Discounts for Tourists: Airline discounts are not the only thing Morocco’s economy is relying on to attract travelers. All forms of transportation in Morocco, from car rentals to train and bus tickets, have decreased in price. Additionally, 30% of hotel prices have decreased.
  4. More Visitors: International travel restrictions drastically affected tourism, causing a 78% deficit in the sector’s revenue in the first quarter of 2021. In response, the Moroccan government established a new economic plan that specifically targeted revenue from tourism. Now, tourism is surging more than it ever has since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, 12 million tourists visited Morocco, half of whom were Moroccans living abroad. From June to September 2021, Morocco will see 72% of the visitors it saw in the same period in 2019, or around 3.5 million travelers.
  5. Rapid Tourism Sector Rebound: Morocco’s tourism sector suffered a loss of $7.2 billion in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic hit small businesses and tourism hotspots hard, especially during national lockdowns. However, these businesses are benefiting from the country’s new economic plan. Travel reopenings are also catalyzing Morocco’s economic recovery.

Laudable Economic Growth

Despite the effects of COVID-19 on Morocco’s economy, the World Bank ranked it 53rd out of 190 countries for ease of doing business in 2020, reflecting its laudable economic achievements within merely a decade. With King Mohammed VI’s plan in place, the country’s setbacks hardly seem significant. The restoration of Morocco’s economy is underway and the country’s effervescent tourism sector is back on the rise.

– Nora Zaim-Sassi
Photo: Flickr

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The State of Poverty in Morocco

Poverty in Morocco
Morocco is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy in Northern Africa. Using its geographical proximity to Europe, the country is positioning itself to become the trade center of Africa. Combining this with low-cost labor, Morocco is moving toward an open market economy. Mohammed VI, the current sovereign of Morocco, has reigned over a steadily growing economy. However, poverty in Morocco is still a major issue that demands the government’s attention.

An Improving Economy

Morocco’s economy has enjoyed steady growth since 1960. Agriculture, tourism, aerospace, phosphates, textiles and sub-components are some of the major sectors that support the country’s economic expansion. In order to further support their increased industrial development and trade, Morocco built a new port and free trade zone near the city of Tangier. Due to these efforts, Morocco’s GDP rose from 2.03 billion in 1960 to 117.92 billion in 2018. However, even with this massive rise in the country’s GDP, income disparity is still an issue.

Income Inequality in Morocco

Income inequality is one of the main issues that reflect the state of poverty in Morocco. In 2018, the OECD published a report which observed the country’s alarming income inequality. The report found that Morocco’s Gini Coefficient, an index of a country’s income inequality, was the highest of all countries in Northern Africa, at 40.3%. This inequality has far-reaching implications in Morocco. In his interview with Reuters in 2019, Ahmed Lahlimi, the head of Morocco’s official statistics agency, stated that social “disparities often trigger protests because they are viewed as a result of an illegitimate accumulation of wealth.”

A report by Oxfam also found that Morocco’s income inequality has considerable consequences. In the report, Oxfam showed that it would take 154 years for a normal employee to earn what Moroccan billionaires can make in a year. This is especially concerning because an estimated 1.6 million Moroccan citizens live in poverty. Inequality is also made evident by the difference in literacy rates between urban areas and rural areas: as of 2011, urban children were 2.7 times more likely to learn reading skills than those living in rural areas. While the literacy rate in Morocco rose from 69% in 2012 to 73% in 2018, it is clear that more needs to be done to improve the differences between urban and rural access to quality education.

Alleviating Income Inequality

In 2005, King Mohammed VI launched the National Initiative for Human Development (INDH), which aims to reduce poverty in Morocco by improving living conditions, assisting vulnerable social groups and supporting Moroccan families. The third phase of INDH, which will last from 2019 to 2023, will use its $1.9 billion budget to improve basic social services and infrastructure around Morocco. As of 2019, the initiative has created 44,000 projects, 17,000 actions and 9,400 income-generating activities in an effort to bridge the inequality gap in Morocco. The country also took on a loan from The World Bank to reduce unemployment in Morocco. The government plans to use the loan to improve private sector employment and human resources and accelerate digitalization and quality of education.

While Morocco’s economy is improving, it is clear that poverty is an issue that still affects many people. Although the developing economy of Morocco improved the lives of many, it also resulted in extreme income disparities. This inequality impacts many citizens, as made apparent by the difference in literacy rates between children in urban and rural areas. Luckily, King Mohammed VI and the Moroccan government have taken measures to alleviate income disparity and poverty in Morocco. With the beginning of INDH’s third phase, many people in Morocco hope for a better future.

– YongJin Yi 
Photo: Flickr