Morocco to construct US $274m cement plant

Morocco is set to construct a cement plant Ouled Ghanem in the province of El Jadida, 150km south of Casablanca. This is after Moroccan company Tekcim signed a financing agreement of US $274m for the development.

The project will be financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB), BMCE Bank of Africa, the Banque Centrale Populaire and Societe Generale Maroc. Tekcim has subcontracted the construction of the plant to two companies; Societe Generale des Travaux du Maroc (SGTM), a large Moroccan construction company specialized in public projects and the global engineering company FLSmidth, based in Denmark.

“This is an important project that will contribute to the industrial acceleration of Morocco, and to the reinforcement of its strong economic ties with the continent,” said Leila Farah Mokaddem, the AfDB representative in Morocco, at the signing ceremony.

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Ouled Ghanem cement plant

The cement plant will produce an estimated 1.4 million tons of cement per year and 1.1 million tons of clinker. The production will meet the increasing demand for housing and infrastructure projects in Morocco and across Africa.

Thanks to the transport infrastructure in the region, the plant will easily be able to respond to local market needs and, beyond this, to the needs of regional markets in West Africa including Burkina Faso, Cote D’Ivoire, and Niger, reports the Maghreb Press Agency (MAP). The project will equally create jobs to benefit rural populations.

The plant is expected to begin operations in 2022. The AfDB has financed more than 160 projects in Morocco, across the water, energy, transport, agriculture, and social development sectors, to a value of over  US $10bn over the last 50 year.