Nador West Med Port: 54 Billion Dirhams, 14,000 Jobs
King Mohammed VI chaired a session in Rabat on launching Nador West Med port and Tanger Med 3, backed by nearly 90 billion dirhams in combined investment.
King Mohammed VI chaired a working session on Wednesday at the Royal Palace in Rabat to review the start of operations at the Nador West Med port and the launch of works on Tanger Med 3, a step that strengthens Morocco's position as a major regional port hub. According to a Royal Cabinet statement, the King heard a presentation on the progress of both projects, whose combined investments total nearly 90 billion dirhams.
Nador West Med Port: 54 Billion Dirhams in Investment
Nador West Med has so far attracted public and private investment of nearly 54 billion dirhams, split between port infrastructure and connecting infrastructure. The project includes an East container terminal with a capacity of 3.5 million containers a year, developed in partnership between Marsa Maroc and MSC, whose first commercial operations are set to begin soon, and a West terminal with a capacity of 1.8 million containers in partnership with CMA CGM, due to enter service in April 2027. The project also includes a hydrocarbons terminal with storage capacity of up to 4 million cubic metres, and an LNG terminal able to handle up to 5 billion cubic metres a year, alongside an industrial zone where one factory is already operating and three more are under construction.
Tanger Med 3: A New Extension West of the Existing Complex
In the second part of the session, King Mohammed VI followed up on the launch of works on Tanger Med 3, west of the existing port complex, which includes 3,000 metres of breakwaters and a new container terminal with a 1,200-metre quay, for an investment of nearly 8 billion dirhams financed by Tanger Med. The operating concession contract for the new terminal has been signed with the Maersk-APM Terminals consortium, for a capacity of nearly 4.5 million containers a year, potentially rising to 5 million. With this addition, Tanger Med's overall capacity aims for 20 million containers a year, which could place it among the world's top ten container ports.
| Terminal | Investment | Capacity | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Terminal - Nador West Med | over 5 billion dirhams (private) | 3.5 million containers/year | initial operations soon |
| West Terminal - Nador West Med | over 3 billion dirhams (private) | 1.8 million containers/year | April 2027 |
| Tanger Med 3 (TC5) | 8 billion dirhams | 4.5 million containers/year | mid-2031 |
Jobs and the King's Call for Wider Benefit-Sharing
On the employment front, the Nador West Med project is expected to generate around 14,000 direct jobs and 20,000 indirect jobs in the near term, a figure projected to rise by 2035-2036 to about 50,000 direct jobs and nearly 90,000 direct and indirect jobs combined. At the end of the session, King Mohammed VI stressed the need for the regions concerned to benefit from the economic and social returns of both projects, calling for faster rollout of training programs suited to the new activities to help young people enter the job market.
This push is part of a broader drive to invest in infrastructure across Morocco, alongside other projects such as the construction contract for the Al Boraq high-speed rail stations in Marrakech, while the Tanger Med port remains a key maritime link between Morocco and Europe, much like the planned electric ferry line between Tangier and Tarifa expected in 2027.