A giant battery factory in Morocco

Morocco is all set to construct the first lithium iron phosphate battery factory. The building of the massive factory, funded by the AfDB and other sponsors, will be led by China’s Gotion High-Tech, one of the world’s leading battery manufacturers.

Gotion Power Morocco is set to develop a giant integrated lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery factory. Production will cover the entire value chain, from cathode materials to cells, in the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Free Zone.

The company has secured €100m in funding from the African Development Bank; the AfDB also plans to raise to a further €141m from financial partners to support the implementation of this strategic project.

Led by Gotion High-Tech, one of the world’s leading battery manufacturers, headquartered in Hefei, China, the project will establish Africa’s first integrated battery manufacturing plant in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa).

The first phase will enable the production of 10 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of battery cells and packs for electric vehicles, before capacity is gradually ramped up to 100 GWh. “This investment reinforces Morocco’s ambition to establish itself as a global hub in the fields of electric mobility and green technology value chains,” commented a spokesperson for the AfDB.

“Battery storage is the missing link in Africa’s clean energy transition. A facility of this scale, powered mainly by renewable energy, strengthens the foundations needed for the large-scale integration of solar and wind power, on which our grids increasingly depend.

“This is precisely the type of project capable of providing reliable, low-carbon energy, whilst creating green industrial jobs and developing the resilient value chains that Africa needs to successfully achieve its energy transition,” said Kevin Kariuki, Vice-President of the AfDB.

“This gigafactory will be a powerful catalyst for strengthening Morocco’s industrial competitiveness and accelerating its emergence as Africa’s manufacturing hub for sustainable mobility industries,” adds Achraf Tarsim, AfDB Country Manager for Morocco.

“It will contribute to the emergence of an African industrial ecosystem for batteries and electric vehicles, whilst promoting the local processing of critical minerals essential to the energy transition. ”

The Kenitra–Marrakech rail corridor

Beyond its transformative impact on Morocco’s industrial sector, the project is expected to create more than 600 direct jobs in its first phase and raise the rate of local industrial integration to 70%, thereby contributing to skills development and the strengthening of local industrial ecosystems.

The AfDB is also supporting another major programme in Morocco, to which it is contributing €205m million: the Railway Infrastructure Development Support Project (PADIF).

This initiative aims to strengthen the capacity and operational performance of the Kenitra–Marrakech rail corridor, which handles a significant proportion of the country’s passenger and freight traffic. It will contribute to this objective by extending the high-speed line and upgrading the existing rail infrastructure along this strategic route.

The project involves the procurement of equipment to modernise the rail infrastructure along the Kenitra–Marrakech corridor and around the Casablanca rail hub.

“By combining the extension of the high-speed line with the modernisation of existing infrastructure, this project will support the growth in passenger and freight traffic, improve the flow of trade and reduce journey times,” says Achraf Tarsim. “Ultimately, it will boost Morocco’s competitiveness in the logistics sector and consolidate its role as a strategic hub between Europe and Africa,” says the Bank,

ECA calls meeting on industrialising C African timber

Central Africa has huge timber resources that are underexploited. An ECA meeting this month will look at practical ways to add value to the resource.

Central Africa is home to one of the world’s most important forest ecosystems. According to the OECD, the Congo Basin accounts for 70% of Africa’s tropical rainforest cover and nearly 800,000 square kilometres of protected areas.

Yet this exceptional natural capital remains largely under-exploited from an industrial perspective. Whilst the sub-region accounts for 20% of global exports of tropical roundwood, it contributes only 1% to global sawn timber production. This highlights the weakness of local processing, insufficient value added and considerable untapped potential in terms of industrial employment and competitiveness.

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) says the countries of Central Africa, in collaboration with regional organisations, have already adopted ambitious policy programmes aimed at promoting local timber processing, industrialisation, regional integration and sustainable development.

“Our ambition is to provide Central Africa with concrete solutions capable of accelerating local timber processing whilst strengthening the competitiveness of its forestry industries. The sub-region lacks neither natural resources nor a strategic vision. The real challenge lies in translating regional commitments into productive investment, competitive industries and sustainable jobs,” says Jean-Luc Mastaki (ECA for Central Africa).

It is to address this challenge that the ECA is convening a regional scoping meeting for the study on the sustainable industrialisation of the timber value chain in Central Africa. This event will take place in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on 29 and 30 July 2026.

“The sustainable industrialisation of the timber sector cannot rely solely on theoretical models or imported solutions. We aim to learn from experiences that are already yielding tangible results within our own sub-region. By promoting peer-to-peer learning, encouraging innovation and disseminating best practice, we can create the conditions for a faster, more competitive and more inclusive industrial transformation”, concludes Jean Luc Mastaki

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