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Morocco present their new green investment plan to boost Low-Carbon Economy

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

Morocco’s fertilizer giant OCP Group presented their new green investment plan to King Mohammed VI in a ceremony held in the Royal Palace in Rabat on Saturday.

The investment plan covers the period between 2023 and 2027, as well as a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the group and the Moroccan government.

Aiming to consolidate OCP’s international position, the investment plan totals $13 billion dollars (MAD 130 billion) over the four-year period.

The new plan is in line with King Mohammed VI’s instructions relating to the need for a faster transition toward a carbon-neutral economy. OCP Group has been working for years to scale up investment in green energy production and carbon-neutral ventures.

The plan mirrors the discussion held during the council of ministers meeting that  King Mohammed VI chaired on November 22, which was entirely devoted to assessing the country’s progress in developing green energy production capacities.

ALSO READ: Morocco Punching Above it’s Weight in terms of developing Green Energy Transition

During the ceremony, OCP group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mostafa Terrab officially presented the group’s investment plan. 

Terrab explained that the group seeks to increase its fertilizer production capacity, while also being committed to achieving carbon neutrality before 2040 by boosting reliance on renewable energies. 

OCP Group is currently working to ramp up investment into solar and wind energy to power its industrial facilities by 2027. 

According to the investment plan, the green energy will be used to supply the new seawater desalination capacities in order to meet the group’s needs and provide the areas around OCP sites with drinking and irrigation water.

In addition, the investment plan seeks to end the group’s reliance on ammonia imports, a key component in the manufacturing of fertilizers, as OCP aims to use green hydrogen to cover its ammonia needs. 

The investment plan, Terrab announced, includes supporting programs for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) operating in the industrial, agriculture, and energy sectors. 

Through the investment, the group hopes to support the emergence of a national innovation ecosystem full of opportunities for the youth. 

The investment plan is expected to back 600 Moroccan industrial enterprises and create 25,000 direct and indirect jobs. OCP Group is a major fertilizer producer and a top exporter of phosphate fertilizers.

By relying on research and development capabilities of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), the group was able to seize the opportunities technology offers to boost and optimize production.

Thanks to its reliance on state-of-the-art technologies, the group is leading the way in sustainable agriculture and food security.

SOURCE: Morocco news

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AgricultureBusinessEconomyMarketsMorocco

Morocco’s UM6P-Al Moutmir Program plans to Expand it’s offer to Over 25,000 Hectares

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

The UM6P-Al Moutmir direct seeding program plans to extend its offer to cover over 25,000 hectares for the 2022-2023 agricultural season in Morocco.

The initiative is part of the program’s contribution to Morocco’s national program seeking to promote direct seeding, a statement from the OCP Group said on Monday.

With the intention to reach more than 125 localities across 23 provinces, the program is at the heart of a collaboration with the Ministry of Culture. Other institutional partners to the initiative include the Regional Directorate of Agriculture, the National Institute of Agronomic Research, and the National Office of Agricultural Advice.

“Seed drills are made available to more than 50 professional agricultural organizations (cooperatives, associations, economic interest groups, etc.) in 23 provinces in different regions of the Kingdom,” OCP stated. 

Under the program, farmers will benefit from close monitoring by the Al Moutmir teams. Training programs on the choice of varieties in cereal growing and the adjustment of seed drills are also part of the strategy.

ALSO READ: Morocco’s Smartprof plans to start expanding in other West African countries

As part of the Al Moutmir program, beneficiaries will have access to soil analysis and recommendations necessary for rational fertilization use.

“The initiative has set up a system for monitoring changes in the rate of organic matter in the soil of plots conducted using direct seeding,” the OCP Group said, emphasizing that this device is set to evaluate the effect of the adoption of direct seeding on the physico-chemical characteristics of the soil.

 In addition, over 1,030 direct seeding demonstration platforms will be installed and monitored in collaboration with the various partners.

The program is targeting high-potential crops such as oil seeds, and fodder crops aimed at rearing livestock, in addition to focusing on cereals and vegetables during the 2022-2023 agricultural season. The program is part of national initiatives seeking to contribute to reviving the agricultural sector.

Agriculture, one of the pillars in Morocco’s economy, has been severely impacted by inflation and drought. The North African country has been facing the most severe drought in three decades. The lack of downpours and drought caused a significant drop in cereal production in the agricultural season in 2021-2022.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Morocco’s cereal production in the previous season fell by 67% compared to a season earlier. The country produced 34 million quintals of cereals in the 2021-22 season, compared to 103.2 million quintals in the 2020-2021 agricultural year.

SOURCE: Morocco news

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AgricultureBusinessEconomyMorocco

OCP Group Inaugurates it’s First ultramodern Fertilizer Blending Plant in Nigeria

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

Morocco’s fertilizer giant OCP Group inaugurated this week its first ultramodern fertilizer blending plant on the continent in Kaduna, in northern Nigeria. 

The aim of the new Kaduna facility is to assist Nigerian farmers in enhancing and increasing soil yields in order to attain food security. 

It will also serve as a space for sharing experiences, knowledge, and know-how between OCP Group and stakeholders in the agricultural sector in Nigeria.

The inauguration ceremony was marked by the presence of OCP Africa CEO Mohamed Anouar Jamali, and Vice-President of West Africa Mohamed Hettiti, as well as Kaduna State Governor Nasir El- Rufai. 

The new 10-hectare plant comprises a blending unit with a production capacity of 120 tonnes per hour and a storage unit with a capacity of 25,000 tonnes. 

It also contains a modern training facility, a laboratory equipped with advanced analytical technology  to assure the conduct of quality control and soil analysis, and a model farm for performing agronomic trials and farmer training.

ALSO READ: Morocco Temporarily Suspends Import Duties on domestic Cattle

The new plant is one of three planned fertilizer blending units in Nigeria, with the other two now under construction in Ogun and Sokoto. The three plants are part of OCP Group’s collaboration with the Nigerian government to improve the country’s agriculture.

“This facility is not only for the production of fertilizers, but also to have a profound impact on the agricultural value chain of the country,” the OCP Africa  CEO said, adding that “OCP Africa is committed to contributing to the transformation of the food system on the continent, and Nigeria represents a strategic pole for our group.”

Hettiti stated that “effective use of custom fertilizer is one of the best ways to increase farmers’ productivity.” “Every new factory, every new store, every new industrial complex generates employment and income that helps support families and reduce poverty in our state,” Kaduna State Governor Nasir El- Rufai highlighted.

SOURCE: Morocco new

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AgricultureBusinessMorocco

Morocco Remains An Agrifood Importer Despite Strong Agricultural Potential

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

Morocco remains a major importer despite its significant potential in the agri-food sector, says a new analysis by a Moroccan think tank.

In a publication last week, the Moroccan Institute of Strategic Intelligence (IMIS) drew an analogy between the country’s agri-food sector and the phosphate sector, explaining that Morocco has the potential to create a strong agri-food business industry to match the success of OCP Group.

Noting the challenges facing the growth of the agri-food business in Morocco, IMIS’s analysis pointed out that while the agriculture input has improved significantly in recent years thanks to state strategies such as the Green Morocco Plan 1 and the Green Generation project , the country is yet to create an “agri-food industrial complex” that would target both the national and international markets.

The disparity between Morocco’s agriculture production and the absence of a strong agrifood industrial complex has been the center of attention of many state-owned or sponsored policy institutions in recent years, the think tank argued.

ALSO READ: NNPC Seals Gas Pipeline project Agreement with Morocco and ECOWAS

Morocco’s Caisse de Depot et de Gestion (CDG), a state-owned financial institution that manages the country’s long-term savings, is placing the Moroccan agri-food industry at the heart of its priorities. 

In 2015, the institution announced plans to enact a new strategy to increase investments in the Moroccan agri-food industry and bring it into the league of the country’s phosphate industry.

IMIS’s analysis went as far as to suggest that Morocco could make the agri-food business the cornerstone of its recently formulated development model to further boost its food sovereignty and its international trade by 2030.

As of 2022, the food industry sector generates MAD 30 billion in added value to the Moroccan economy, accounting for 26% of the country’s industrial Gross Domestic Production (GDP). The sector comprises 2,000 companies and employs 150,000 people, supporting 25% of the industrial workforce in the country.

However, the sector currently is largely made up of Small and Medium Size Businesses (SMEs) employing less than 200 workers each. Meanwhile, 90% of businesses in the sector are SMEs.

And while SMEs make up the majority of businesses in the sector, they are only responsible for 45% of Morocco’s agrifood input. Multinational and national groups such as Danone, Nestle, and Holmarcom make up only 5% of the companies but are responsible for 55% of the input in the agri-food sector in Morocco.

SOURCE : Morocco news

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BusinessEconomyMorrocco

Morocco’s OCP Group and UM6P Partner with Rainbow Rare Earths to develop its expertise in the extraction

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

British mining company Rainbow Rare Earths announced on Monday the signing of a “Master Agreement” with Morocco’s phosphate and fertilizer giant OCP Group and Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) to “further investigate and develop the optimal technique for the extraction of rare earth elements from phosphogypsum.”

Phosphogypsum is a waste by-product from the processing of phosphate rock in plants that produce phosphoric acid and phosphate fertilizers. The material is used in agriculture for soil amendment or as fertilizer, in the brick and cement industry, as well as in road construction.

The tri-party agreement aims to “develop the optimal route for the extraction of rare earths from phosphogypsum, and the subsequent processing of these rare earths into separated elements,” indicated Rainbow Rare Earths in a statement.

Relying on their respective expertise in the field, the three parties will join forces to “develop pilot and industrial-scale extraction of rare earths from phosphogypsum,” added the statement.

Rainbow Rare Earths highlighted the “significant IP assets, know-how, and expertise in the field of phosphogypsum processing” that OCP Group built thanks to the “innovative research carried out by UM6P. The two institutions will also contribute with their “adapted complementary separation technologies.”

Given Rainbow Rare Earths “expertise and intellectual property on rare earths extraction and processing,” the partnership will provide a “synergistic” opportunity for mutual development, the statement explained.

Rainbow Rare Earths’ CEO George Bennett said: “We are delighted to enter this agreement with such innovative partners and believe their significant knowledge of phosphogypsum processing fits well with our own technical expertise in rare earths processing.”

ALSO READ: NewMed and Israeli Companies To Launch Renewable Energy Projects in Morocco

Stressing the great potential of phosphogypsum as a “valuable source of rare earths,” Bennett said that his team is “focused on securing opportunities for both collaboration and expertise sharing” in the extraction and processing of rare earth elements found in phosphogypsum.

Founded in 2021, Rainbow Rare Earths is mainly engaged in the development of rare earth mineral projects in South Africa (the Phalaborwa Project) and Burundi (the Gakara Project).

SOURCE: Morocco news

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