EV Battery: Morocco to Host Africa’s 1st Gigafactory, Attracting over $ 6.5 Bln Investment

Gotion High-Tech, a Chinese electric vehicle battery giant, will inject over $ 6.5 billion in a gigafactory in Morocco. It will be the first in Africa, creating more than 25 000 jobs and strengthening the country’s leading position in the automotive industry.
The announcement of this EV battery industrial eco-system was made Thursday in Marrakesh at the ongoing 2023 “GITEX Africa”, the largest Tech & Start-up event.
A Memorandum of Understanding was inked by Li Zhen, chairman of Gotion High-Tech, Moroccan delegate minister for Investment Mohcine Jazouli, in presence of Head of Govt. Aziz Akhannouch.
The gigafactory, which will have an annual 100 GW production capacity, will be built in the Rabat-Sale-Kenitra region, in Bouknadel Commune. It will make batteries for electric vehicles and systems for energy storage.
Morocco’s automotive industry is growing rapidly and capable of reaching an annual production capacity of 1 million vehicles. Approximately 90% of automotive production is exported to over 75 countries worldwide.
Besides its FTAs signed with USA, EU and several other countries facilitating its exports, Morocco has important mining resources such as manganese, an EV metal used to produce batteries for electric vehicles and other renewable energy applications such as electricity grid storage for Tesla’s Powerwall batteries.
Manganese represents a critical link in the lithium-ion battery supply chain. Electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD) is an upgraded form of manganese that serves as a key ingredient of lithium-ion, alkaline and zinc-manganese batteries.