Morocco aspires to become the world leader in sustainable mobility
- Sustainable mobility: a national economic opportunity
- Leader in electric vehicles in the Euro-African region
- Towards clean mobility in the transport sector
The first Green Impact Expo & Summit 2025, held from 11 to 13 February in the city of Casablanca, brought together various public and private actors in search of innovative solutions for sustainable mobility.
During the event, Ryad Mezzour, Moroccan Minister of Industry and Trade, emphasised the strategic importance of integrating the electric battery value chain to preserve the country's automotive industry and highlighted the economic opportunities that exist in industrial advances.
For his part, Chakib Alj, president of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM), highlighted the country's progress in renewable energy, clean transport and strategic infrastructure.
Also participating in the Green Impact Expo & Summit 2025 was the French ambassador to Morocco, Christophe Lecourtier, who assessed the country's role in the field of sustainable mobility: ‘Morocco is now establishing itself as a key player in sustainable mobility, in particular thanks to the great advances in the automotive, rail and urban transport sectors’.
With regard to the resumption of trade relations with France, Lecourtier emphasised that ‘France, a long-standing and committed partner, will continue to contribute its expertise to support this dynamic, particularly through major transport projects that will redefine the country's connectivity, with a view to the major events organised in Morocco such as the 2030 World Cup’.
‘The future we are building together is based on a common ambition: to make Morocco and France a benchmark in energy transition and sustainable innovation,’ he concluded.
Sustainable mobility: a national economic opportunity
Ryad Mezzour explained in his speech how ’Morocco sees sustainable mobility as a real economic opportunity, given the skills it has and the various things it can sell in this sector.’
‘The country is benefiting from a competitive automotive industry that must adapt to the demands of the international market, as well as committing to the planned transition to electric mobility in Europe from 2035 onwards,’ Mezzour added.
The Minister of Industry also emphasised the need for Morocco to integrate an electric battery value chain in order to preserve the 250,000 to 260,000 jobs in the sector and maintain its position as the leading national exporter, with a turnover of 150 billion dirhams. ‘If we do not integrate this value chain, we run the risk of losing our leading export sector,’ he warned.
Mezzour highlighted the significant progress and successes in battery production and pointed out that the production in Morocco of the materials needed to manufacture batteries represents a key step towards the complete integration of battery production in the country.
In this sense, Morocco aims to become one of the few countries in the world capable of producing all the components of an electric battery, as well as assembling electric vehicles. ‘This will not be achieved in ten or twenty years, but is scheduled for next year and has already begun,’ according to the minister.
The North African country is seeking a major transformation of its industry between now and 2032 with the aim of tripling exports. ‘If we achieve this goal, our added value as well as our jobs will at least double,’ Mezzour said.
Leader in electric vehicles in the Euro-African region
The dynamic undertaken by Morocco could lead it to be the only country in the Euro-African region capable of producing an electric vehicle from start to finish, knowing how to exploit its natural resources such as phosphates or cobalt to feed the automotive industry.
With this national ambition in mind, Ryad Mezzour urged business leaders to commit to this transformation process, to consolidate Morocco's role in the global sustainable mobility industry and thus reinforce its attractiveness to international investors.
Chakib Alj, president of the CGEM, emphasised the importance of encouraging initiatives that aim to make economic actors aware of the challenges of the sector and the opportunities of sustainable mobility.
Morocco has become one of the most advanced countries in terms of batteries and carbon neutrality, as Alj explained, noting that the country regularly ranks among the top 10 countries in the world in climate performance indexes, thanks to its ambitious national strategy to reduce its carbon footprint by 2050.
Alj emphasised Morocco's massive investments in wind and solar energy, which has enabled it to achieve a 44% share of renewable energy in the national energy mix, with the aim of reaching 52% by 2030. This commitment to renewable energy has enabled Morocco to reduce its CO2 emissions by almost 4.5 million tonnes in 2022.
Towards clean mobility in the transport sector
The president of the CGEM also insisted on the need for a transition towards clean mobility, recalling that the transport sector accounts for 20% of greenhouse gas emissions in Morocco.
On the occasion of the Green Impact Expo & Summit, Chakib Alj congratulated the success of the tramways in Casablanca and Rabat-Salé, and revealed some of the projects in progress, especially the replacement of 30% of Public Administration vehicles with electric models by 2033 and the increase in the number of electric buses in the fleet.
Similarly, he emphasised the importance of tax breaks and the deployment of charging stations to encourage the purchase of electric cars. At the same time, he raised the problem of traffic congestion and the importance of using digitalisation and new technologies with artificial intelligence applied to traffic management, which can reduce these congestions by up to 30%.
With regard to rail transport, Chakib Alj praised the success of the Al Boraq high-speed line, mentioning the projects to extend the routes to Marrakech and Agadir, as well as the development of a regional fast network between Kenitra and the Greater Casablanca region. These infrastructures will be decisive for the 2030 World Cup, which will generate exceptional flows of travel.
Alj concluded by recalling Morocco's position among the top six countries promoting green hydrogen. The development of this and the battery industry, given the economic opportunities related to sustainable mobility, could transform the Moroccan economy by increasing its exports and improving the convertibility of the dirham, in order to make Morocco a world leader in sustainable mobility.