By Chaimaa Zahaar
Rabat – Construction on a PSA Peugeot Citroën plant was launched in Kenitra on Thursday, in the presence of the PSA Group CEO and the Minister of Industry Investment, Trade and the Digital Economy, Moulay Hafid Elalamy.
The plant, which will be completed in 2019, is “expected to generate around 3,500 direct jobs and 20,000 indirect jobs,” said Elalamy, speaking at a press conference.
The PSA Group held a press briefing yesterday to introduce the public to the project, which is expected to boost the economy of the Rabat-Salé-Kenitra (RSK) region. Part of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in June, 2015 between the Ministry of Industry and the PSA Group, Morocco will provide the French company with the adequate human and technical resources it needs in order to implement this industrial project.
According to Carlos Tavares, the President of the Executive Board of the group PSA, and Elalamy, the new generation plant will produce 90,000 vehicles in its first year, and it intends to reach an annual rate of 200,000 units.
PSA is the second French automaker to establish an industrial unit in Morocco, after Renault in Tangier. The Tangier plant was founded in 2012 and is currently Africa’s largest automotive production facility.
