Morocco signs major deal to create 17,000 jobs with electric vehicle battery plant

Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch hosted, Thursday in Rabat, the signing ceremony of a strategic investment agreement between the Moroccan government and the Chinese-European group Gotion High tech Co, a leader in the field of electric vehicles.

This agreement will establish a «Gigafactory» with an integrated system to produce batteries for electric vehicles in the city of Kenitra. The plant will be the first of its kind in East and North Africa and will strengthen Morocco's leadership in the automotive industry and energy transition, reads a press release.

The agreement was signed by the minister of interior Abdelouafi Laftit, the minister of Economy and Finance Nadia Fettah, the Minister of Equipment and Water Nizar Baraka, the Minister of National Territorial Planning Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, Minister of Economic Inclusion, Small Businesses, Employment and SkillsYounes Sekkouri, Minister of industry and Commmerce Ryad Mezzour, Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development Leila Benali, Minister Delegate to the Head of Government responsible for Investment, Convergence and Evaluation of Public Policies, Mohcine Jazouli, Minister Delegate to the Minister of economy and Finance, in charge of the Budget Faouzi Lekjaa and President of Gotion High tech Group, Zhen Li in the presence of the Director General of AMDIE Ali Seddiki.

To create this large-scale industrial unit, the Kingdom put its trust in Gotion High Tech, a leader in the electric battery sector, in which the German Volkswagen Group is a major shareholder.

Gotion High Tech will develop an integrated project to produce batteries for electric vehicles with a capacity of up to 20 GWh at an investment cost of 12.8 billion dirhams. The project is expected to create 17,000 direct and indirect jobs, including 2,300 high-skilled jobs.

The first tranche of this investment will enable the development of the Group's industrial activities in Morocco and the creation of an integrated system for the production of batteries for electric vehicles with an eventual capacity of up to 100 GWh, at a total investment cost of 65 billion dirhams.