Morocco’s Tanger-Med container port will be opened for public use today. It would also, by far become the biggest container port in the whole of the Mediterranean region.
Surpassing the Mediterranean’s largest ports Algeciras and Valencia in terms of container capacity, and drive more investment and manufacturing to the country.
Here Is Why The New Tanger Med Port Is Important For African Businesses.
- Tanger-Med Port is the closest for containers coming into Africa from Europe.
- About 90 percent of container volumes passing through the ports are transiting to other destinations
- The biggest market, with a 40 percent share, is West Africa, where Moroccan firms have heavily expanded to in recent years.
- Some 20 percent will go to Europe and 10 percent to the Americas.
- Tangier also has a ferry terminal carrying some 40,000 people per day in the summer peak season as Moroccans living in Europe cross the Mediterranean.
- The terminals are operated by APM Terminal and owned by Denmark’s Maersk, Germany’s Eurogate and a local firm.
- The port is about 50 kilometers west of Tangier, the main city in northern Morocco, allowing space for expansion.
- Tanger Med, the biggest port in Africa with an annual volume of 3.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) in 2018, will add six million in capacity after its extension worth 1.3 billion euros, port director Rachid Houari said in an interview.
The Difference This Opening of The Port Is Bringing To The Table
- Morocco is hoping that the port, which offers a platform for exports by local production plants of French car makers such as Renault SA and Peugeot SA, will reach volumes of 4.5 million TEU by this year’s end like Algeciras in southern Spain.
“I hope we will add one million TEU of containers every year,” said Houari. He declined to estimate future volumes, saying only the original terminal had reached 3.5 million TEU in just six years. “Fingers crossed we will fill it up in six years,” he said. , he said.
Authorities at the port on the western tip of the Mediterranean, just across from the Spanish coast, hope it can build on its role as a calling point for container shipping firms, especially between Asia, Africa, and Europe.
- Morocco invested 1 billion euros in the first terminal which has created some 6,000 jobs at the port and 70,000 others in a trade zone in the area, he said.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.