Morocco: African Development Bank grants 120 million euro loan to develop Nador West Med port activity zone
HIBAPRESS-RABAT
Funding
Designation: Development project for the activity zone of the port of Nador West Med (PAZAP-NWM)
Total amount: 120 million euros
Main objectives
Strengthen and diversify Morocco’s port offering by consolidating its role as an industrial logistics platform in the western Mediterranean.
Develop economic spaces to house industrial and logistics units in the port area.
Deploy a zone of various activities with the installation of public lighting devices, electrical equipment, seawater desalination plants and wastewater treatment.
Expected results
The project aims to:
Promote value chains, particularly export chains, in order to support the Kingdom of Morocco in the transformation of its economic model.
Improve the business climate and generate significant investments that will stimulate the social and economic development of the Oriental region.
Create more than 30,000 jobs in the long term by increasing the volume of trade and other related activities in the Oriental region, particularly the province of Nador.
Context
The Nador West Med (NWD) industrial port complex is being deployed as part of Morocco’s port strategy. By 2030, this sectoral vision aims to strengthen the integration of the port system into the regional transport network, to consolidate the competitiveness of the entire port logistics chain to create value and local jobs, and to accelerate the economic and social development of the Oriental region.
With this in mind, the Bank approved an initial financing of EUR 112.8 million in 2015 to contribute to the NWM construction project. In 2022, this first project received additional financing of EUR 57 million, in response to the economic effects of the health crisis.
In line with integrated development, the Bank also approved, in 2023, financing of 200 million euros to build the Guercif-Nador highway and strengthen the attractiveness and logistics competitiveness of the Oriental region. Objective: to connect the future port of Nador West Med to the Moroccan highway network. With the new development project for the port’s activity zone, amounting to 120 million euros, the Bank’s total contribution to this integrated multimodal program will reach 489.86 million euros.
