€277m Chinese investment confirms Morocco’s EV manufacturing ambitions

BTR Group from China will invest €277 million in a cathode factory in Morocco. Cathodes are a critical component of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The deal, signed end March, is confirmation of Morocco’s ambition to become “the world’s most competitive platform for EV manufacturing”.

BTR Group is a world leader in the production of cathodes for EV batteries. Among its clients are both battery manufacturers (including BYD) and EV manufacturers who manufacture their own batteries (like BYD, Volkswagen and Tesla). The group’s investment in Morocco could create as many as 2,500 jobs.

Tangier Tech

The cathode factory will be located at Mohammed VI Tangier Tech City (pictured: scale model), “Tangier Tech” for short, a rapidly developing smart city built on the outskirts of the eponymous port city on Morocco’s Atlantic coast. Upon completion in 2026, the factory will boast an annual production capacity of 50,000 tons. 

“This investment in the EV sector is not isolated,” said Mohcine Jazouli, Morocco’s Minister for Investment. “It is the first of several major projects. Morocco is determined to consolidate is position as a continental and regional hub in the automotive industry.”

Seeking to capitalize on its strategic position in between the major European and developing African markets, Morocco is keen to develop its already important automotive industry even further. 

€13.1 billion

With a history going back to 1957, Morocco’s automotive industry has worked its way up from mere components production via vehicle assembly to a full-fledged manufacturing ecosystem. 

In 2023, Morocco’s automotive sector dethroned phosphate mining as the country’s largest export industry, its export-generated value rising from €10.3 billion in 2022 to €13.1 billion last year, a 27% increase.

While components production remains important – automotive wiring harness exports rose 32% in 2023, to €4.3 billion – Morocco is now Africa’s main vehicle manufacturer, ahead of South Africa. 

Production capacity

In 2020, the country reached an annual vehicle production capacity of 700,000 vehicles, which it aims to raise to one million by 2025. The country also already produces between 40,000 and 50,000 EVs per year. 

Production almost entirely coincides with export, as Morocco’s domestic market remains small: in 2021, just over 175,000 new vehicles were registered in the country. 

Traditional manufacturers like Renault and PSA represent the bulk of Morocco’s manufacturing, but the country is actively courting new players to boost its EV manufacturing capacity. 

Competitive and integrated

In November last year, Morocco’s Minister of Industry Riyad Mezzour vowed that his country would become “the most competitive and integrated EV manufacturing platform in the world, serving not only our own future gigafactories but also others throughout the region.”

Thanks to its already dense network of Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, Morocco would be “among the rare countries with a completely integrated industrial system for the production of EV batteries”, he added. 

As for EV production itself, Morocco aims to double its capacity to 100,000 units over the coming two years. 

Image: Zones industrielles Maroc