Fez – Anouar Benazzouz, the general manager of Morocco’s National Highway Company (ADM), has said the company is developing a new national extension program as part of Morocco’s ambition to modernize and upgrade its infrastructure network.
The extension plans primarily concern the connection of Nador West Med’s new port and the creation of a continental highway to alleviate the bottleneck on the Rabat-Casablanca route, he explained.
Benazzouz made the statements in ADM’s 2020 annual report. He highlighted ADM’s continuous work to preserve the national heritage of highways, namely “the maintenance and upkeep of the 1,800 km, the tripling works, the construction of interchanges, as the main worksites.”
The ADM chief also pointed out that “listening to our neighboring communities in the various regions and localities, honoring our commitments to citizenship, investing more with our renowned partners in R&D and innovation, and supporting young start-ups are all on our agenda for the year 2021 and beyond.”
Benazzouz commented on the repercussions of the COVID pandemic on the company, saying that “the highway traffic for the year 2020 decreased by -32% compared to 2019.” The situation has heavily impacted the company’s income, making it record “a sharp decline of MAD 840 million, i.e. a decrease of -27% compared to 2019.”
However, the general director expressed the company’s commitment to providing a high-quality service to Morocco’s highway users. He said that the “company has kept its course and mastered its balances to provide public services to users with the required quality standards.”
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In addition, Benazzouz argued, the company is continuing its mission to improve Moroccan roadway infrastructure through thorough digitization measures. The decrease in traffic during the pandemic acted as a spur for speeding up the digitization process, he added.
The company’s digitization reforms include “customer services, internal services such as purchasing, HR management, and operational functions, particularly those related to traffic management and security,” Benazzouz noted.
The ADM chief highlighted that “with more than 1 million Jawaz Pass users (1.2 million by the end of December), the digitization of payment methods has become a reality.”
He further highlighted the “tangible and important” achievement the company accumulated both in construction and customer service in 2020.
Pointing out the tripling of the Casablanca-Berrechid highway and that of Casablanca’s bypass as the major accomplishments of 2020, he stressed these are among the “largest and most complex projects” carried out by ADM.
Moroccan traffic is estimated to be around 400,000 cars per day, the equivalent of about 1.2 million passengers per day, according to ADM data. During peak periods, such as holidays, school vacations, or summer months, traffic can surpass 500,000 vehicles per day, “generating queues at some toll plazas.”
Morocco now has a toll-free expressway network of 1,334 kilometers, with another 739 kilometers under construction. Expressways are known for being smooth and safe for cars, despite being smaller than controlled-access highways.
