Tangier Emerges as a Strategic Magnet for Global Industrial Investment

Various industries continue to benefit from their proximity to European markets to attract more large foreign companies in several sectors. Since the beginning of 2025, the pace of establishments has continued. Tangier’s industrial zones continue to attract large foreign companies, whether European or Asian, particularly Chinese.

Tangier now appears to be establishing itself as a strategic area for companies wishing to move closer to their consumer or production markets

It is in this context that the announcement by the Dutch automotive supplier Derco of establishing itself in Morocco‘s second largest industrial hub comes. And Derco is not alone, since on the Chinese side as well, companies that have already chosen Tangier are confirming their long-term location strategy. Thus, a few weeks earlier, the China State Construction Overseas Development (CSCOD) began work that will ultimately enable it to build an industrial complex dedicated to the production of cathode materials for electric batteries.

This is a first important step towards the realization of a global investment (estimated at 3 billion dirhams) by the Chinese giant BTR New Material Group, with a planned annual capacity of 50,000 tons. These are the two highlights of recent weeks, in terms of new installations, which come in addition to those that punctuated the first half of the current year.

Leaders in the automotive industry

These establishments have mainly been made in the automotive and high-speed industries. This is particularly the case for the Swedish engineering company SKF, which recently inaugurated its new factory there. This new site, with its sixty jobs, is dedicated to the manufacture of components for magnetic bearings and high-speed electric motors.

This move follows the announcement of the arrival of Chinese players in the automotive industry, such as Century Tire, which has decided to reassign its unit initially planned for Galicia, Spain, to Tangier. This is also the case for another Chinese giant, Shanshan, which specializes in synthetic graphite anodes.

In addition, another leading Chinese tire wire producer, Shandong Daye, recently confirmed its investment of more than 1 billion dirhams to realize its project for a factory in Tangier, called Daye Morocco.

95 projects in Morocco

This growing attractiveness acquired by the industrial zones of northern Morocco, through the interest of major global operators, had also pushed the government to expand the scope of Tangier Automotive City (TAC). For its part, the Spanish company Exlabesa also recently inaugurated, in Assilah, its third production line in Morocco, at its Kaye Aluminium Tangier plant. This will strengthen activity in the various industrial zones of the north of the country.

Already, in 2024, Tanger Med Zones, a subsidiary of the Tanger Med Group, indicated that it had validated some 95 new industrial projects, for a total investment of 3.63 billion dirhams and the creation of 11,239 jobs. A certain acceleration of investments is expected in these different zones, especially with the decentralization of certain investment decisions, with an increase in the range of CRIs.

The Kingdom is particularly positioned to attract European investment, seeking relocation, and Chinese investment, seeking closer ties with European and American markets. This is primarily due to US surcharges and, above all, the desire of Western companies to reduce their dependence on Asian markets, thus avoiding the trap of remoteness, as was the case during the Covid pandemic.

Business creation: Tangier leads the race in the North!

According to the Moroccan Office of Industrial and Commercial Property (OMPIC), a total of 9,450 new businesses had been created in the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region by the end of August 2025. These creations are divided between legal entities (5,412) and individuals (4,038), according to the latest OMPIC general dashboard.

Thus, the city of Tangier comes first with 6,925 new businesses, followed by Tetouan (1,326), Larache (372), Al Hoceima (256), Ksar El Kébir (242), Chefchaouen (111), Ouezzane (103), Assilah (75) and Targuist (40).

By sector of activity, commerce takes the lion’s share with 43.32% of companies created, followed by various services (16.43%), construction and public works (BTP) and real estate activities (16.02%), transport (8.49%), industries (6.77%), hotels and restaurants (4.96%), ICT (2.06%), financial activities (1.33%) and agriculture and fishing (0.63%).

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(Featured image by Raúl Cacho Oses via Unsplash)

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First published in LES ECO.ma. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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