China’s Hailiang, Shinzoom to Build Auto Battery Plants in Morocco 

The Mohammed VI Tower in Rabat. (AFP)
The Mohammed VI Tower in Rabat. (AFP)
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China’s Hailiang, Shinzoom to Build Auto Battery Plants in Morocco 

The Mohammed VI Tower in Rabat. (AFP)
The Mohammed VI Tower in Rabat. (AFP)

Chinese auto battery manufacturers Hailiang and Shinzoom will set up two separate plants in Morocco, as the country seeks to adapt its growing automotive sector to increasing demand for electric vehicles, Moroccan officials said on Tuesday.

Authorities in charge of developing the Moroccan northern industrial zone, Tanger Tech, said Hailiang plans to build a copper plant worth $450 million on an area of 30 hectares.

Shinzoom, part of Hunan Zhongke, will invest $460 million in an anodes plant spanning over 20 hectares, they said in a statement.

In April, the Moroccan government gave the green light for Chinese electric battery maker BTR New Material Group to build a factory near Tangier to produce key component cathodes.

Another Chinese manufacturer, CNGR Advanced Material, is expected to build a cathode plant in Jorf Lasfar, 100 kilometers south of Casablanca, where the government has allocated 283 hectares to electric battery industries.

Last year, the Moroccan government and China's Gotion agreed to look into setting up an electric vehicle battery plant in the kingdom with up to $6.3 billion in eventual investment.

Industry minister Ryad Mezzour told Reuters last month the Gotion project was advancing with discussions on the footprint and location.

Chinese firms are lured by Morocco's geographic location on the Strait of Gibraltar, its free trade agreements with key EU and US markets and its existing automotive industry cluster.

The automotive sector topped Morocco's industrial exports at $14 billion in 2023, up 27%.

Morocco is home to production plants by Stellantis and Renault with an annual combined production capacity of 700,000 cars as well as a cluster of local suppliers.



Egypt’s Net Foreign Assets Jump in March after IMF Review Approval

 Visitors look out towards the Giza pyramid complex as they tour the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza on the southwestern outskirts of the capital Cairo on May 5, 2025. (AFP)
Visitors look out towards the Giza pyramid complex as they tour the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza on the southwestern outskirts of the capital Cairo on May 5, 2025. (AFP)
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Egypt’s Net Foreign Assets Jump in March after IMF Review Approval

 Visitors look out towards the Giza pyramid complex as they tour the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza on the southwestern outskirts of the capital Cairo on May 5, 2025. (AFP)
Visitors look out towards the Giza pyramid complex as they tour the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza on the southwestern outskirts of the capital Cairo on May 5, 2025. (AFP)

Egypt's net foreign assets jumped by $4.9 billion in March, central bank data showed, apparently boosted by the approval of the fourth review of the country's IMF program.

Net foreign assets climbed to the equivalent of $15.08 billion from $10.18 billion at the end of February, according to Reuters calculations based on official central bank currency exchange rates.

The International Monetary Fund in early March approved the disbursement to Egypt of $1.2 billion after completing its review of the country's $8 billion economic reform program. It also approved a request for a $1.3 billion arrangement under the IMF's resilience and sustainability facility.

Foreign investors were significant purchasers of Egyptian pound treasury bills after the approval and as one-year bills acquired after the March 2024 IMF agreement matured, two bankers said.

Egypt had been using foreign assets, which include assets held by both the central bank and commercial banks, to help prop up its currency since as long ago as September 2021. Net foreign assets turned negative in February 2022 and only returned to positive territory in May last year.

Foreign assets increased in February at both the central bank and commercial banks, while foreign liabilities rose at the central bank but declined at commercial banks.