AfDB approves €100 million loan for Morocco battery gigafactory

The AfDB’s board of directors has approved a €100 million loan to Gotion Power Morocco to finance the development of an integrated cathode-to-cell LFP battery gigafactory in the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Free Trade Zone.

The development bank said it also plans to mobilize up to an additional €141 million from financial partners, acting as mandated lead arranger under the New African Financial Architecture for Development.

The project is led by Gotion High-Tech Co., Ltd., a battery manufacturer headquartered in Hefei, China, and listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

The AfDB said the facility will be the first integrated battery manufacturing plant in Africa and the Middle East and North Africa region, producing 10 GWh of battery cells and packs for electric vehicles in its first phase, with plans to expand capacity to 100 GWh.

“Battery storage is the missing link in Africa’s clean energy transition,” said Kevin Kariuki, the bank’s vice president for power, energy, climate and green growth. “A facility of this scale, powered primarily by renewable energy, strengthens the foundations for the large-scale integration of solar and wind power, which our grids increasingly depend on.”

Achraf Tarsim, the AfDB’s country manager for Morocco said the gigafactory is expected to strengthen Morocco’s industrial competitiveness and accelerate the country’s emergence as a manufacturing hub for sustainable mobility industries in Africa.