Batteries: how Morocco has become China’s "secret plan" to conquer the West

Between 2023 and 2025, the Kingdom of Morocco has captured 23 out of 45 projects from Chinese equipment manufacturers and automakers recorded in the Middle East and North Africa region. According to a note from BMI Fitch Solutions, cited by the newspaper Le Monde, this dynamic places the country far ahead of its Egyptian and Algerian neighbors in the industrial race.

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Among these major investments, the manufacturer Gotion High Tech plans to commission its gigafactory in Kenitra by the end of 2026. This project, which could cost up to 65 billion dirhams, is accompanied by the establishment of the CNGR Advanced Materials group in Jorf Lasfar for the production of battery components.

This massive relocation responds to a strategy of circumventing the customs barriers imposed by the United States and Europe. As the Chatham House think tank analyzes, the objective is to produce locally to avoid taxes that can reach 100% on the American market and 45% within the European Union. Morocco, a global leader by 2030

Privileged access to Western markets is based on historical free trade agreements. To benefit from this, companies must, however, respect the rule of origin of the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention, which limits the value of components outside the zone to 45%, as specified by a spokesperson for the European Commission to the newspaper Le Monde.

The kingdom’s main asset also lies in its natural resources, holding 70% of the world’s phosphate reserves. This ore is essential for the manufacture of LFP batteries, a less expensive technology in which China is the leader. Morocco could thus become a global hub for this production by mid-2030.

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With an industrial ecosystem already honed by Renault and Stellantis and the Tanger Med infrastructure, the country offers immediate skilled labor. Despite record financing from the European Investment Bank in 2025 to support export sectors, the Chinese breakthrough now seems difficult to counter for European players.