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Rabat – Morocco’s Minister of Energy Aziz Rabbah is calling for more investments and intensified research to boost the country’s mining sector.
During the government council on Thursday, Rabbah pleaded for intensifying efforts in research and mining to boost mining exploration.
He said the future of the sector is dependent on more investment to ensure exploration in deep mining.
Rabbah recalled that his ministry developed a strategy for the mining sector excluding phosphates.
The ministry also put in place the 2021-2030 Morocco Mining Plan, which Rabbah said will serve as a “driving force for responsible and sustainable development at the national level.”
The minister also introduced the major structural projects launched to improve the attractiveness of the mining sector and adapt it to new developments in the mining industry worldwide.
He told the government council that the main provisions contained in Bill 46.20 amending and supplementing Law 33.13 on mining, and Bill 49.20 on the status of employees of mining companies. The bills seek to ensure the “dignity of workers and decent work conditions.”
With regards to the restructuring of traditional mining activity, Rabbah said that the provisions of Law 15-74 relating to the mining zone of Tafilalet and Figuig have started being implemented, namely through the opening of the zone to investors within a framework of transparency and competition through legal mechanisms.
Morocco’s government seeks to improve the mining sector, which produced 35.11 million tonnes of minerals in 2017.
Rabbah said in 2020 that Phosphate, which contributes significantly to Morocco’s economy, represents 9°% of the mining production.
Rabbh said the mineral investments reached MAD 14 billion ($1.5 billion).
For Rabbah, the main goal remains to develop investment in mineral exploration to $415 million.
He also hopes to see the strategy creating more job opportunities mounting to 30,000.
“It was necessary to assess what was done, assess achievements, and assess the difficulties and impediments that emerged five years after the launching of this strategy,” Rabbah said in April 2019.
