Transport
From The Report: Morocco 2015
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An influx of capital and a number of major upgrades have improved Morocco’s transport sector significantly in recent years, with private investment initiatives working alongside the state-led development programme. Despite tight budgetary constraints, authorities allocated a large chunk of the 2015 budget towards transport projects, with the biggest slice going to the ports segment, followed by tranches for road, rail, airport and logistics upgrades. These projects should help push Morocco up the World Economic Forum’s rankings for global competitiveness, where it is currently ranked 55th out of 144 countries for overall infrastructure, well above many of its North African neighbours.

This chapter contains interviews with Driss Benhima, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Royal Air Maroc; and Nadia Laraki, General Manager, National Ports Agency.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Connection efforts: New transport infrastructure to link the country
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Adapting to the opportunities and challenges of a growing economy, Morocco’s transport sector has improved significantly in recent years, benefitting from an influx of capital and a number of major upgrades. While there is still scope for further improvement, private investment initiatives have contributed to the government-led development programme, and more importantly, been maintained despite a difficult external environment. Exogenous shocks, including a slowdown in Europe – the kingdom’s…

Interview

Crisscrossing continents: OBG talks to Driss Benhima, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Royal Air Maroc
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What are some of the main challenges to reducing costs and improving productivity? BENHIMA: The global downturn of 2009-11 affected Royal Air Maroc, much as it did other international carriers. To ride out the recession and climbing oil prices, we needed to make a major transformation and, as a national carrier, we faced stiff competition from lowcost airlines. Cost-cutting was our main strategy for sustaining our business model. Our open skies agreement positioned us to better benefit from…

Analysis

Handle with care: Expansion of port capacity will ease cargo handling on both of the kingdom’s coasts
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Port infrastructure in Morocco has been benefitting from upgrade work for several years now. In 2014 the total cargo traffic passing through the kingdom’s ports reached some 115.1m tonnes, up from 92.3m tonnes in 2012. Much of this increase was the result of a new, overarching development plan, the Port Strategy 2030, which was put together by transport authorities in 2010 to map out the country’s needs. The plan established that over the following two decades, a total investment of up to…

Analysis

Cutting the cost: Plans to set up new logistics areas should benefit the whole transport sector
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Alongside efforts to develop transport infrastructure, Moroccan authorities are working to improve efficiency and bring down the costs for shipping, transport and distribution. A set of new measures – ranging from road interchanges to specialised industrial zones – are aiming to reduce logistics costs from the current 20% of GDP to 15% over the coming years. Under the National Strategy for Moroccan Logistics Competitiveness, established through a partnership between the Moroccan government…

Interview

Quay to success: OBG talks to Nadia Laraki, General Manager, National Ports Agency (Agence Nationale des Ports, ANP)
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What is being done to improve port facilities? LARAKI: The ANP plans to invest Dh6bn (€652m) in order to develop the port area. In this programme, ANP will accomplish the Wessal project which aims to expand the Casablanca port. To free up space for development, we first need to relocate the ship repair facilities and the fishing port. To support the focus on tourism and create the dedicated capacity to receive cruise ships, we also plan to build a state-of-the-art cruise terminal. This will…