Billions of euros in contracts and commitments to seal Franco-Moroccan reconciliation

More than €10 billion in commercial contracts and financial commitments will be announced at the end of the French president’s first state visit to Morocco, the Elysée announced. Half of this amount was made official on Monday afternoon, October 28, during a ceremony at the royal palace in Rabat presided over by Emmanuel Macron and King Mohammed VI, before an audience of French and Moroccan ministers and businessmen.

The signatures refer to twenty-two agreements, presented as if they had been “approved” by the two heads of state. The most important ones refer to the energy transition and electrical interconnections: French diplomacy sees the production of renewable energy in Morocco as a means to decarbonize the kingdom’s economy and transport green energy to France.

At the same time, the general lines of a bilateral framework agreement on energy cooperation were announced. At the request of the Elysée, its content was directed by the former head of Engie and Suez Gérard Mestrallet, current special envoy of the president for the logistics integration corridor project between Europe and Asia, and Xavier Piechaczyk, president of the board of directors of RTE, the operator of the electricity transmission network in France.

As revealed the world On Sunday, October 27, one of the most important investments comes from Engie. The electrician has closed a collaboration estimated in its first phase at 3.5 billion euros with the Office Cherifien des Phosphates (OCP), one of the world’s largest producers of phosphates and fertilizers. Through a joint company, whose creation date has not been set, the two groups are considering joint projects in renewable energy, its storage, electrical infrastructure, green hydrogen and desalination.

600 km electric circuit in northern Morocco

The potential for low-carbon energy production is estimated at 2 gigawatts (GW) by 2027 and 6 GW by 2032. Construction is also planned in northern Morocco of a 600-kilometer electrical circuit that will connect several OCP industrial centers. with a possible extension south to Western Sahara. The exact number of projects has not yet been defined, but their amount could reach 17 billion euros in the next ten years.

Another large French company, TotalEnergies, has signed a green hydrogen pilot project, valued at 2 billion euros, with a view to producing electricity from solar and wind energy. Several tens of thousands of hectares of land will be allocated to the group, the Elysée announced, without giving further details.

Also on the energy side, a third agreement concerns EDF Renewables for the second phase of the Taza wind farm, in the north of the kingdom. But this is not a surprise, since the subsidiary of the French public group will have already commissioned the first phase of this park in 2022.

As for the rumors that circulated about the announcement, on the first day of the presidential trip, of the electrician’s participation in the electric highway project between Dakhla and Casablanca, which should make it possible to transport green electricity produced in Western Sahara, they have been denied. . EDF confirms World having responded to the call for expressions of interest launched by the Moroccan National Office for Electricity and Drinking Water, but its result is still awaited after six postponements in less than a year.

French companies hoped for reconciliation

The railway sector, which features prominently in the agreements signed at the Royal Palace, was also the subject of announcements. The main one concerns Alstom, which was finally designated as “preferred bidder” for the supply of twelve to eighteen high-speed trains. As the bidding process is still ongoing, the manufacturer declined to comment.

According to our information, its general director, Henri Poupart-Lafarge, did not travel on the presidential planes that landed in Rabat on Monday. Arriving the day before, negotiations with the Moroccan National Railway Office (ONCF) continued on Monday. The market is estimated at between 450 and 750 million euros, although the exact number of trains, which will all be produced in France, is still being debated.

Proof that French companies were waiting for reconciliation between Paris and Rabat, some firms had to wait until the head of state traveled to Morocco. This is the case of Egis. On Monday, its general director signed the contract to assist the construction management of the future Kenitra-Marrakech high-speed line, worth 130 million euros, although months have passed since engineering was awarded the contract. “The tender was won in May and the result was announced in August, but a favorable political moment was needed to conclude”trust a source.

Shortly before this ceremony, at the end of his tête-à-tête with Mohammed VI, Emmanuel Macron invited the monarch to a state visit to France. The last official trip of the King of Morocco to Paris dates back to 2018. He will be received in 2025, indicates the Elysée, adding that his arrival will mark “the continuation of the process of rebuilding relationships” between the two countries.