Morocco: Railway projects to benefit from over 7.7 billion DH investment for 2022-2024 period

The forecasts of the investment program of the Moroccan National Railways Office (ONCF) for the period 2022-2024 amount to more than 7.72 billion DH, according to the report on public establishments and enterprises supplemented to the 2022 draft finance bill.

This program, spread over 2022 with 2.9 billion dirhams, 2023 with 2.22 billion dirhams and 2024 with 2.6 billion dirhams, will be dedicated mainly to the rehabilitation of the infrastructure and the renewal of rolling stock, underlines the report published on the website of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

In order to perpetuate ONCF’s economic model and improve its financial situation, the memorandum of understanding, signed on July 25, 2019 between the State and the Office, provides for the implementation of an institutional and organizational restructuring plan aimed at modernizing the rail sector through alignment with international best practices advocating the separation between commercial operation, on the one hand, and infrastructure development and financing, on the other.

The new contract with the State, currently being finalized, should lay the foundations for the consolidation of the ONCF model and define the appropriate financing plan to speed up the development of the railway sector in terms of regional planning and strengthening of connectivity between regions and major economic centers of the country.

In addition, the report notes that at the end of last June, ONCF achieved a turnover of more than 1.6 billion DH with closing forecasts for the year 2021 of 3.34 billion dirhams.

Investments made in the first half of 2021 reached 687 million dirhams, an achievement rate of 25%, while the 2021 closing forecasts are 2.71 billion dirhams.