The AfDB approved the financing for Gotion Power Morocco to develop an integrated cathode-to-cell lithium iron phosphate battery plant in the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Free Trade Zone.
AfDB also plans to mobilise up to an additional $166 million from financial partners to support the project, acting as Mandated Lead Arranger under the New African Financial Architecture for Development.
The project is being led by Gotion High-Tech Co Ltd, a global battery manufacturer headquartered in Hefei, China, and listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
The facility will be the first integrated battery manufacturing plant in Africa and the Middle East and North Africa region. The first phase will produce 10 gigawatt-hours of battery cells and packs for electric vehicles, with plans to expand capacity to 100 gigawatt-hours.
AfDB said the investment supports Morocco’s ambition to become a major hub for electric mobility and green technology value chains.
AfDB Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth Kevin Kariuki said battery storage remains central to Africa’s clean energy transition. “Battery storage is the missing link in Africa’s clean energy transition,” Kariuki said.
Kariuki said the project will support the integration of renewable energy into power systems. “A facility of this scale, powered primarily by renewable energy, strengthens the foundations for the large-scale integration of solar and wind power, which our grids increasingly depend on,” Kariuki said.
Kariuki added that the project would support low-carbon energy, green industrial jobs and resilient value chains.
AfDB Country Manager for Morocco, Achraf Tarsim, said the facility will strengthen Morocco’s industrial base. “This gigafactory will be a major catalyst for strengthening Morocco’s industrial competitiveness and for accelerating its emergence as Africa’s manufacturing hub for sustainable mobility industries,” Tarsim said.
Tarsim said the project will also support local processing of minerals needed for the energy transition. “It will help foster an African industrial ecosystem for batteries and electric vehicles while promoting the local beneficiation of critical minerals essential to the energy transition,” Tarsim said.
The first phase is expected to create more than 600 direct jobs and achieve a local industrial integration rate of 70%.
AfDB said the project aligns with the institution’s Four Cardinal Points by supporting resilient infrastructure, industrialisation, value addition and regional integration.
–AfDB/ChannelAfrica–
