Logistics

Morocco’s Tanger Med port in $400m new funding

November 8, 2024, 7:58 AM

Tanger Med handled 477,000 trucks last year and plans to double its capacity

$400m of funding secured
Increasing truck capacity to 1m
Gender and sustainability goals

Morocco’s Tanger Med port complex has secured more than $400 million of funding for the expansion of its truck and passenger terminal.

International Finance Corporation (IFC) and a collection of international banks will fund the expansion of the port’s truck capacity to more than 1 million a year.

The Tanger Med complex, which has direct maritime connectivity to 180 ports and 70 countries, handled 477,000 trucks last year.

The port has created 120,000 jobs since it opened in 2007. Last year it handled 8.6 million containers, a 13.4 percent rise on 2022.

Loubna Ghaleb, director of strategy at Tanger Med Group, said the project will “support export growth in the agribusiness and industrial sectors, and further reinforce trade links between Morocco and Europe”.

David Tinel, IFC’s regional manager for the Maghreb region, said the project will help to “draw other investors into Morocco’s infrastructure sector to capitalise on the tremendous opportunities presented as the country gears up to co-organise the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and host the 2030 Fifa World Cup”.

IFC will provide a loan of up to $212 million. It said this will be the first sustainability-linked loan in Morocco, for which the interest rate is adjusted based on achieving specific targets. The key performance indicators associated with the loan include gender diversity and renewable energy, IFC said.

A pool of international banks led by JP Morgan will provide a commercial loan of up to $219 million.

A non-honouring guarantee from the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency will cover lenders in the commercial loan facility for up to 15 years. This protects lenders if a government-owned company fails to repay its debt.

Tanger Med Group said it aims to support gender diversity by introducing programmes that promote women’s access to jobs and leadership roles, with a target to increase the number of female managers.

It also has plans to increase the share of green electricity usage through solar and wind.

The expansion project includes plans to mitigate climate risks, such as raising the elevation of breakwaters and quays to counter sea level rise and extending the quays to accommodate larger, lower-emission vessels.