Rabat – The global shipping giant CMA-CGM is re-enforcing its links between Morocco and West Africa. The company announced the launch of a new maritime line, Wazzan 2, linking Morocco to West Africa on Wednesday in Casablanca.
Under the name of Moroccan explorer Hassan al-Wazzan, the line allows a weekly direct link between Morocco and West African countries without any stopover and with reduced transit times of four days to Tema, Ghana, six days to Monrovia, Liberia, nine days to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire and 12 days to Cotonou, Benin.
The French company explained that this new maritime line will give Moroccan exporters a range of solutions to transport their products directly to West African countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin and Liberia, as well as linking other African countries such as Mali and Burkina Faso in an indirect line to Morocco.
The opening of this line from Morocco to West Africa reflects Morocco’s pivotal role in the development of the continent, said the French group’s vice-president Jean-Philippe Thénouz, adding that about three million tons of goods are imported from Morocco to West African countries by sea and land.
In July 2015, King Mohammed VI launched a weekly maritime line between Casablanca, Tangier and West Africa under the name Wazzan 1 with the aim of boosting up inter-African trade.
Thénouz said that Wazzan 2 comes in line with Morocco’s initiative to recognize the “importance of establishing a direct maritime service between Morocco and the West African coasts.”
He added that after the success of Wazzam 1, CMA-CGM found it crucial to contribute to the development of Moroccan-African trade through the launch of Wazzan 2, which will include Tangier, Casablanca, Monrovia, Abidjan, Tema, Cotonou and Takoradi.
In recent years, Moroccan trade with West African countries had moved from 3.4 percent of the country’s total exports to 6.6 percent, an average annual increase of 12 percent. These exchanges were particularly localized in Senegal, Mauritania, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon.
