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Casablanca – The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a €100 million loan for Gotion Power Morocco to help finance the development of Africa’s first integrated lithium iron phosphate battery gigafactory.
The project marks another major investment by the lender in Morocco just one day after it signed a separate €150 million financing agreement with Morocco’s Municipal Equipment Fund for local infrastructure projects.
The project will be built in the Atlantic Free Zone in the Rabat-Salé-Kenitra region and will cover the full battery value chain, from cathode materials to battery cells. The bank also plans to mobilize up to an additional €141 million from financial partners as the mandated lead arranger under the New African Financial Architecture for Development initiative.
Led by Chinese battery manufacturer Gotion High-Tech Co. Ltd., whose shares are listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the investment will establish the first integrated battery manufacturing plant in both Africa and the Middle East and North Africa region.
The first phase will have an annual production capacity of 10 gigawatt-hours of battery cells and battery packs for electric vehicles. Production is expected to increase gradually to 100 GWh as the project expands.
According to a stakeholder engagement plan prepared for the project, the planned facility also includes the production of cathode materials and is located in the Atlantic Free Zone Phase III in Kenitra.
Read also: AFC Chief Economist: Morocco Can Help Drive Africa’s Next Growth Phase
Kevin Kariuki, AfDB’s Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth, said battery storage is a missing link in Africa’s clean energy transition.
“An installation of this scale, powered mainly by renewable energy, strengthens the foundations needed for the large-scale integration of solar and wind power, which our electricity grids increasingly rely on,” he said. Kariuki added that the project would deliver reliable, low-carbon energy while creating green industrial jobs and strengthening resilient value chains across the continent.
The bank’s Morocco Country Manager, Achraf Tarsim, said the gigafactory would boost Morocco’s industrial competitiveness and support its ambition to become a manufacturing platform for sustainable mobility industries in Africa.
He said the project would also help build an African battery and electric vehicle ecosystem while encouraging the local processing of critical minerals needed for the global energy transition.
According to AfDB, the first phase is expected to create more than 600 direct jobs and raise the local industrial integration rate to 70%, while supporting skills development and strengthening Morocco’s industrial ecosystem.
The project aligns with the bank’s Four Cardinal Points strategy, which focuses on resilient infrastructure, industrialization, regional integration, and adding value to Africa’s natural resources. It is also expected to support the wider deployment of renewable energy and electric mobility across the continent.
