Morocco Unveils Ambitious Highway Expansion Plan in 2025 Budget

In the road sector, the government plans to continue the implementation of the urgent actions included in the emergency program for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of destroyed housing following the Al Haouz earthquake, in particular the upgrading of two sections of the RN7 national road, connecting "Ouirgane" to "Tlat N’yacoub" in the province of Al Haouz over a length of 34 km, and "Tizi N’tasset" to "Tafinghout" in the province of Taroudant over a length of 30 km for 665.5 million dirhams, and the road connectivity to the new Nador West Med (NWM) port, the credits programmed in 2025 (100 million dirhams in payment credits and 1.8 billion dirhams in commitment credits) corresponding to the consolidation of the contracts related to the duplication of the RN2 and the development of the RN16.

The government also intends to continue and launch road infrastructure projects included in the State-Regions program contracts signed for a total envelope of 17.13 billion dirhams, including an amount of 7.02 billion dirhams related to the contribution of the Ministry of Equipment and Water, and to continue work affecting all road network and endangered civil engineering operations with a budget allocation of around 2 billion dirhams programmed under the "Road Special Fund" CAS for the year 2025.

As for highway infrastructure? The government plans to continue the construction of the Guercif-Nador highway over 104 km as part of the connectivity of infrastructure to the NWM, as well as the construction of the Tit Mellil-Berrechid highway section at an estimated cost of 2.5 billion dirhams (excluding taxes) financed up to 2.2 billion dirhams by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (FADES) and 1.1 billion dirhams by the National Motorway Company of Morocco (ADM).

The National Road Safety Agency (NARSA) plans to continue the implementation of the "Safe autocar" programs, the scrapping premium and the renewal premium, as well as the awareness and communication policy around road safety and the professional driver training program. It is also planned to improve road safety on accident-prone and strategic road sections in partnership with various partners (ONCF, civil protection, local authorities, etc.). In this regard, Marrakech will host the 4th World Ministerial Conference on Road Safety scheduled for February 2025.