Morocco World News with Maghreb Intelligence
Morocco World News with Maghreb Intelligence
Rabat, February 16, 2013
Algerian port authorities are sounding the alarm about the rundown situation of the 14 Algerian ports in service. At a conference organized by the Forum of Business Leaders, many experts reported that Algeria has fallen far behind in the field of maritime transport, especially in port infrastructure.
It is an alarming situation, which threatens to make Algeria depend on neighboring countries such as Spain, Morocco and Tunisia. One of the speakers explained how the Moroccan port of Tanger-Med has already positioned itself as the leading “Algerian” port since the operator CMA CGM scheduled a regular line from the port to serve those of Oran Ghazaouet in Algeria.
According to the participants in this symposium, what further complicates the Algerian case is that the transport and processing of containers are 40% more expensive in Algeria than in Morocco. Moreover, according to studies conducted by experts from Algeria, if the land border between the two countries were to be opened, the Tanger-Med port will be the biggest beneficiary of the East-West Highway, which has cost the taxpayer more than $9 billion.
Another Moroccan port project also concerns Algerians. It is the port of Nador West Med which is about sixty kilometers from the Algerian border.
If Algeria does not respond quickly, it will be forced in the coming years to obtain its supplies of petroleum products from Morocco, a worse-case scenario for an oil giant.
Edited by Benjamin Villanti
