Morocco’s Sahara, magnet for foreign investors- Bloomberg

The Moroccan Sahara has become a magnet for investors in ports,infrastructure,energy and tourism thanks to a propitious business climate and the Kingdom’s effort to ensure global support for its sovereignty over the territory,Bloomberg wrote.

“A $1.2 billion project,Dakhla Atlantic Port,is transforming a desert area into a crucial trade link,connecting Western Sahara to European and Latin American shores,” wrote the global financial news agency.

“Windfarms are sprouting up,with the energy set to power Morocco’s stadiums when it co-hosts the football World Cup in 2030 and potentially even being supplied to Europe. Agribusiness and seafood exports are growing earners,” it said.

The region has one of the world’s highest load factors for wind and solar-energy projects,which Morocco seeks to leverage to produce green hydrogen and ammonia. The new port will focus on West African markets by offering a platform for the processing of their natural resources and their export,it added.

Planned investment in related infrastructure projects amount to 10 billion dollars amid a growing interest by foreign investors.

“The region aims to attract $40 billion in investment by 2040,becoming a main hub for game-changing projects,with a focus on West African markets and the production of green hydrogen and ammonia,” it said.

The paper recalls the positive influence on investment by the US recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the territory,which was followed by a similar move by France,while Spain expressed support for Morocco’s autonomy plan for the territory,it said.

“The Western Sahara has gone from a disputed territory that was radioactive to foreign investors to an increasingly normal region that’s receiving a growing flow of capital,” the agency quoted Riccardo Fabiani,project director for North Africa at the International Crisis Group as saying.

Bloomberg also zoomed in on Dakhla’s regional role as a gateway to and for the Sahel countries.

“Morocco is in talks with Mali,Burkina Faso and Niger on how to establish links to Dakhla’s port,” it said

Dakhla is poised to serve as a port for exports and processing of minerals from neighboring landlocked African nations. “Dakhla is an El Dorado for investors,” it said.