Another W for Morocco’s EV sector: Chinese EV battery components maker BTRNew Material will invest MAD 13 bn (USD 1.2 bn) to establish a production facility in Morocco per a signed MoU with the country’s Investment Ministry and the Moroccan Agency for Investment and Export Development (AMDIE), Asharq Business reported on Saturday, citing a ministry statement. No operational timeline was disclosed.

What we know: The Chinese company is a global leader in manufacturing cathode and anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, AMDIE General Manager Ali Seddiki said. This production is mainly directed to the US market, and specifically to Tesla. BTR New Material’s Vice President described the investment as “very important” for his group’s integration into global markets. The two sides did not provide details on the facility’s capacity, but they said it would provide 3k direct and 10k indirect jobs.

REMEMBER- Morocco — which is already a regional automotive powerhouse — has a thrivingEV assembly industry with plans to make it even bigger. Several global manufacturers produce hundreds of thousands of EVs at assembly facilities in the country. Renault and Stellantis already operate EV assembly facilities producing 700k cars each year. Citroen also produces around 50k EV buses per year with plans to double that output in two years. Morocco is targeting the production of around 1 mn EVs in the next three to four years, according to statements by officials last year.

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