OCP new green investment program for 2023-2027 presented at a ceremony chaired by King Mohammed VI

King Mohammed VI chaired, this Saturday at the Royal Palace in Rabat, the presentation ceremony of the new green investment program of the OCP Group worth $13 billion. The new green investment program (2023-2027) is meant to put an end to the group’s dependence on ammonia imports and enable investment in the chain of renewable energies, green hydrogen and green ammonia.

The new program will help consolidate OCP’s world position; reach a local integration rate of 70%; back 600 Moroccan industrial enterprises; and create 25000 direct and indirect jobs.

The ceremony, that was also marked by the signing of the relevant protocol agreement between the government and OCP group, is part of the proactive orientation that the Sovereign has been promoting, for many years, in matters of transition towards green energies and low-carbon economy. The ceremony comes following the meeting held last November 22, under the king’s chairmanship and that was devoted to the development of renewable energies and to the new perspectives in the field, says a statement issued by the Royal Office.

At the beginning of the ceremony, OCP group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mostafa Terrab, made a presentation on the results of the group’s first investment program, launched under the King’s guidelines in 2012, and which helped solidly anchor OCP in the fertilizers market. By trebling its fertilizer production capacity, OCP group is today positioned as one of the world’s leading producers and exporters of phosphate fertilizers.

The group relied on research and development capabilities of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) to seize the opportunities offered by the new industrial and digital technologies and to develop an expertise in innovative technologies for balanced fertilization to take up the challenges of sustainable agriculture and food security.

Terrab then made an exposé before the Sovereign on the group’s new investment program. The program revolves around increasing the fertilizer production capacities, while committing to achieve carbon neutrality before 2040 by relying on the unique source of renewable energies as well as on the Kingdom’s progress in this field.

By investing in solar and wind power, the group plans to feed all its industrial facilities with green energy by 2027. The low-carbon energy will also be used to supply the new seawater desalination facilities in order to meet the group’s needs and provide the areas around OCP sites with drinking and irrigation water.

This investment will help the group, first world importer of ammonia, to eventually end reliance on these imports by also investing in renewable energy – green hydrogen – green ammonia sector, allowing the group to strongly enter the market of green fertilizer and of fertilization solutions adapted to the specific needs of different soils and crops.

This ambition will be backed by supporting programs for industrial SMEs and those operating in the sectors of energy and agriculture, hence, favoring the emergence of an innovative national ecosystem and the creation of new employment and job integration opportunities for the youth.

The new program, which will help consolidate OCP’s world position, provides for a global investment of 13 billion dollars (130 billion dirhams) over the period 2023-2027, the achievement of a local integration rate of 70%, the backing of 600 Moroccan industrial enterprises and the creation of 25000 direct and indirect jobs.

To this end, the King presided over the signing of a protocol agreement related to this investment program between the government and OCP group, respectively represented by the Ministers of the Interior, of the Economy and Finance, of Equipment and Water, of Energy Transition and sustainable Development, of Investment, Convergence and Assessment of Public Policies, on the one hand, and by the OCP Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, on the other.

This ceremony was attended by the Head of Government, the Advisors to His Majesty the King and members of the Government.