Construction of the Dakhla Atlantique port complex — now more than 53% complete — is rapidly transforming Morocco’s southernmost Atlantic coast into a major continental logistics hub, with ambitions extending deep into sub-Saharan Africa. The project stands as the flagship infrastructure investment of Morocco’s Southern Provinces development model and a central pillar of the Royal Atlantic Initiative designed to open new economic corridors toward Sahel nations.
“These works constitute a central pillar of the regional economy and the Southern Provinces,” Erragheb Hormatollah, president of the Dakhla municipality, told le360 news platform. He emphasized the port’s dual role in supporting local industry and enabling broader African connectivity. The facility is designed to serve the fishing, industrial, and international trade sectors, positioning Dakhla as a premier transhipment and processing hub on Africa’s Atlantic seaboard, he said.
The port is far from being the only transformative project underway in the region. On the energy front, Dakhla is now fully connected to the national electricity grid, with ongoing efforts to extend coverage to fishing villages and rural settlements across the territory. Significant investments in wind and solar energy are further reducing the region’s carbon footprint while exploiting its exceptional natural resources, the platform explained, quoting Hormatolla.
Water and agriculture are undergoing parallel transformation. A 5,000-hectare irrigation project using desalinated seawater — backed by approximately 2.5 billion dirhams in financing — is creating a modern, export-oriented agricultural zone. The associated desalination plant is more than 85% complete, securing both drinking water and irrigation supply for the region’s growing population.
Urban development, healthcare, education, sports infrastructure, and cooperative employment programs for youth and women complete a development agenda that Hormatollah describes as having transformative socioeconomic impact across the entire Southern Provinces territory.
