Morocco deepened its port partnership with France on Tuesday, as the National Ports Agency (ANP) and the French Development Agency (AFD) signed a joint declaration in Rabat for a third tranche of financing worth a combined 100 million euros. The funds are earmarked for modernizing port infrastructure across the Moroccan Sahara and advancing a new generation of « green » ports.
The signing ceremony brought together Equipment, Water and Forests Minister Nizar Baraka, French Ambassador to Morocco Philippe Lalliot, ANP director general Mustapha Farès, and AFD’s Morocco director Catherine Bonnaud.
Addressing the gathering, Baraka described the agreement as a new milestone in a long-standing relationship built on mutual trust and shared ambition. The financing, he said, will help fund the ANP’s 2023-2030 investment programme, within which the southern provinces hold a particularly prominent place.
He listed the ports concerned — Tan-Tan, Tarfaya, Laâyoune, Boujdour, Dakhla and Mahbès — stressing that these projects amount to far more than a simple geographic spread of port investments. Rather, he argued, they form part of a strategic ambition to support the development of the Moroccan Sahara, deepen its integration into the national economy, and make full use of its Atlantic coastline, turning the region into a hub for economic growth, connectivity and regional integration.
Baraka linked the initiative to King Mohammed VI’s vision, which places the southern provinces at the heart of the Kingdom’s development and reinforces its Atlantic orientation. Port investment, he noted, goes well beyond its operational role: it strengthens the Kingdom’s territorial cohesion, highlights its maritime assets, and positions the southern provinces at the centre of Atlantic economic dynamics. The financing, he added, also fits into the broader ambition of turning Africa’s Atlantic façade into a space for connectivity and south-south economic cooperation, opening new avenues for trade between Morocco and the rest of the continent.
Ambassador Lalliot, for his part, underlined the strategic weight of the agreement, pointing to the pivotal importance of port infrastructure for Morocco’s economy and recalling the considerable investments the Kingdom has already mobilized along its coastlines — citing the global prominence achieved by the Tanger Med port complex as an example. He also called for stronger resilience against climate change, highlighting the need for joint action to shield coastal facilities from rising sea levels and increasingly powerful waves, while keeping environmental protection and residents’ living conditions at the centre of the bilateral partnership. The French diplomat praised the commitments made by Paris at the highest level to support development across all of Morocco’s regions, and the Moroccan Sahara in particular, reaffirming France’s determination to back Morocco concretely across its territory.
Structured as a non-sovereign loan on preferential terms over 13 years, granted without a state guarantee, the financing will support the ANP’s investment programme, built around four pillars: rehabilitating and strengthening port infrastructure, developing renewable energy and unconventional water desalination, expanding and modernizing fishing ports, and decarbonizing and electrifying quayside operations. The deal also builds on commitments made during the French President’s state visit to Morocco on 28 October 2024, and underscores renewed confidence from international lenders in the ANP’s financial management and independent funding capacity.
Beyond its diplomatic symbolism, the agreement reflects how Morocco is mobilizing targeted financial partnerships to accelerate development in its southern provinces, a pillar that has become central to the Kingdom’s Atlantic strategy. For local economic actors, the prospect of modernized ports in Dakhla or Laâyoune opens the door to new logistics, maritime and energy-related industries, in a region that has seen a steady rise in public and private investment in recent years.
