TelQuel: You’ve presented a new rail modernization plan worth 96 billion dirhams through 2030. What are the concrete priorities of this project, and how do you plan to ensure its budgetary sustainability?
Abdessamad Kayouh: Indeed, we had the honor of seeing this major program launched under the impetus of His Majesty the King. It is a structural project, with a total investment of 96 billion dirhams, aimed at transforming rail into the true backbone of sustainable and inclusive mobility in Morocco. This project addresses not only climate and environmental challenges, but also those related to the co-hosting of the 2030 World Cup.
“We will acquire 168 next-generation trains, integrating into this dynamic the development of a true national rail industrial ecosystem”
Specifically, this plan includes several major projects. First, there’s the extension of the high-speed rail line between Kenitra and Marrakech (430 km at 320 km/h), which is a key route. In addition, we’re developing local services, such as commuter-type lines, in major cities: Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech. We also plan to connect strategic infrastructure, such as Rabat Airport, the new terminal at Mohammed V Airport, as well as three stadiums that will host the World Cup. And of course, all of this will be accompanied by the development or construction of 40 stations in the affected areas.
On the equipment front, we will acquire 168 next-generation trains, integrating into this dynamic the development of a true national rail industrial ecosystem, similar to what we’ve already achieved in the automotive and aerospace sectors.
As for financing, our approach is based on three pillars. First, diversification of resources: we combine equity, prudent borrowing, and self-financing to ensure the project’s viability. Second, we aim to capitalize on the positive externalities of rail, particularly environmental ones, to mobilize international funding, including through green bonds. Finally, we are relying on international partnerships to access competitive financing.
This is a strategy designed for balance, sustainability, and the creation of shared value. It combines budgetary discipline, appeal for financial partners, and alignment with key national priorities.
Several regions are still waiting for better rail service. What criteria did you use to select the future lines?
It’s important to first recall that Morocco has adopted a particularly ambitious master plan for rail development, which was designed through a process of territorial consultation. The goal was to best integrate the needs and expectations expressed by various local stakeholders.
This plan provides for the eventual deployment of 1,500 km of high-speed rail lines and 3,800 km of conventional rail lines, as well as new connections to ports. Its implementation represents an estimated investment of 400 billion dirhams.
Concretely, this will make it possible to connect all cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants to the rail network—covering about 90% of the national population—as well as serve the main ports and airports. Beyond the purely logistical impact, this network will have a structuring effect on many aspects: safety, ecological transition, energy savings, territorial attractiveness, etc.
As for the selection of future lines, it’s not done randomly. We’ve adopted a rigorous, multidimensional, multi-criteria approach, based on current and future mobility needs, but also on economic impact, accessibility, territorial planning, emissions reduction, and technical and financial feasibility.
It’s based on this framework that we’ve built the entire investment program presented through 2030. A program we intend to be coherent, integrated, and sustainable—fully aligned with the Royal Guidelines, as expressed notably in the Message of His Majesty, May God Assist Him, on the occasion of the 2nd National Conference on Advanced Regionalization, in December 2024.
You aim to establish 750 hectares of regional logistics zones by 2028. What guarantees do you have that these zones won’t meet the same fate as other abandoned public projects?
First of all, it’s important to emphasize that our goal of developing 750 hectares of regional logistics zones by 2028 is part of a thoughtful and structured development strategy, tailored to the intensity of demand and the specific logistical service needs of each region of the Kingdom.
These zones primarily aim to strengthen and streamline the growth of Morocco’s foreign trade by creating an efficient and strategic link between the country’s major ports and key agricultural and industrial production hubs. This integration is intended to optimize logistics routes to accelerate import and export flows, which are essential to maintaining and increasing national economic competitiveness in international markets.
Moreover, these zones also play a crucial role in structuring urban flows related to domestic trade and national distribution. By equipping urban peripheries with modern infrastructure featuring multi-flow mass storage capacities, they will enable better regulation and optimization of internal flows, thereby reducing urban congestion while promoting sustainable and efficient urban logistics.
In addition, the implementation of these zones directly supports the qualitative evolution of the national economy toward greater sophistication. By offering modern, high-performance logistics infrastructure, we are directly contributing to improved production standards, strengthening the logistics value chain, and consequently enabling an overall upgrading of the national economy.
As for the issue of “abandoned” public projects, we have anticipated this risk, which is often tied to land speculation within economic activity zones. In this regard, the Moroccan Agency for the Development of Logistics (AMDL), as the operational arm of the Ministry of Transport and Logistics (MTL), is especially vigilant and has adopted a strict approach to ensure that logistics zone projects are fully operational and economically viable in order to enhance the Kingdom’s logistical competitiveness.
“To prevent speculation and ensure optimal use of logistics land, a clear anti-speculation mechanism has been put in place”
The governance established by the developers of the logistics zones includes monitoring the operational efficiency of land lot recipients through key financial and operational performance indicators (KPIs). These indicators allow not only for oversight of the projects’ financial management but also ensure that their progress aligns with economic and commercial expectations. A concrete example is the Lqliaa logistics zone, south of Agadir, which began commercialization recently, on Thursday, May 22, 2025, and perfectly illustrates this proactive and rigorous approach.
To prevent speculation and ensure optimal use of logistics land, a clear anti-speculation mechanism has been put in place. Only logistics operators are allowed access to these zones. Applications are rigorously reviewed based on specific criteria evaluating the quality of the candidates, and land transactions are finalized only when solid guarantees demonstrating the proposed projects’ economic feasibility and operational viability are provided by investors.
These regional logistics zones, supported by significant public subsidies, reflect our commitment to effectively transform public investments into true economic catalysts. It is our responsibility to ensure that these resources concretely translate into the stimulation of private investment, a notable increase in economic productivity, and the substantial creation of sustainable jobs across the entire national territory.
What role do you assign to the private sector in the planning and management of these logistics zones?
The private sector is at the heart of our approach. It is not a mere beneficiary, but a true partner in implementing the national strategy to develop logistics competitiveness.
From the earliest stages of territorial planning for logistics zones, we involve private operators to ensure alignment between development offerings and actual market needs. This dialogue helps guide decisions on location, scale, integrated services, and operational models.
We provide developed land under competitive conditions, but this comes with a clear commitment from operators: to enhance that land by investing in the construction of high-performance, sustainable logistics infrastructure that meets the highest quality standards.
Finally, during the operational phase, we rely on the expertise and agility of the private sector to manage these facilities optimally, with a focus on economic, environmental, and social performance. This structured, results-oriented public–private partnership is the key to the success of our program.
You recently called, in Geneva, for stronger international financial support for road safety. What concrete actions is this advocacy leading to at the national level?
Indeed, on the occasion of the 10th session of the Advisory Board of the United Nations Road Safety Fund (UNRSF), which I had the honor of chairing on May 19, 2025, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, I emphasized the need for stronger international financial support to address what can be described as a silent pandemic, claiming the lives of nearly 1.2 million people each year, particularly among young people aged 5 to 29.
This advocacy is part of a broader effort led by Morocco, notably through the organization of the 4th Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, held in Marrakech from February 18 to 20, 2025, under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, May God Assist Him.
This conference marked a decisive turning point in the global management of road safety, first through the launch of the Mohammed VI International Road Safety Prize, awarded jointly to the World Health Organization and the United Nations Road Safety Fund. This royal prize, the first of its kind on a global scale, will now feature in all future editions of the conference. Second, it stood out for the adoption of the Marrakech Declaration, calling on states to establish appropriate institutional mechanisms for better management of road safety, particularly in developing countries. The declaration also emphasizes the need to facilitate access to both national and international funding to ensure targeted investments in infrastructure and to fully integrate road safety into the planning and development of sustainable transport.
“The Kingdom of Morocco, which was a key player in drafting the Marrakech Declaration, has positioned itself as both an actor and a spokesperson for the cause of road safety, particularly for road safety in Africa”
As such, the issue of road safety financing is now a crucial concern for developing countries and lies at the heart of our collective action. The Kingdom of Morocco, which was a key player in drafting the Marrakech Declaration, has positioned itself as both an actor and a spokesperson for the cause of road safety, particularly for road safety in Africa.
In this context, the Ministry of Transport and Logistics will continue its advocacy whenever the opportunity arises to reaffirm the commitments made by ministers in the Marrakech Declaration, with a clearly stated goal: to have this declaration adopted as a United Nations resolution during the high-level meeting to be held in New York in 2026.
The meeting of the Advisory Board of the United Nations Road Safety Fund, which I will chair for a two-year term, is also a timely opportunity to highlight the issue of access to financing for better road safety management in countries.
Finally, it should be noted that this advocacy within international bodies will continue whenever the opportunity presents itself. Our country has committed to organizing a mid-term meeting by 2030 to assess the progress made in implementing the Marrakech Declaration across the African continent. Until then, we aim to strengthen consultation with relevant international stakeholders, particularly the World Health Organization, the African Development Bank, the African Union, the African Road Safety Observatory, and the World Bank, in order to establish monitoring mechanisms for the declaration, with access to financing as the key element.
You recently canceled a call for tenders for vehicle inspection centers due to conditions deemed too permissive. What does this episode reveal about the tensions between regulation and liberalization of the sector?
“The liberalization of the vehicle inspection sector in Morocco can have harmful impacts on quality, equity, the economic viability of operators, the geographic distribution of this public service, and its availability in certain areas”
In Morocco, the vehicle inspection sector plays a fundamental role in road safety and environmental protection. It is a regulated field, organized around both public and private operators, and constantly evolving to meet national and international standards.
The liberalization of the vehicle inspection sector in Morocco can have harmful impacts on quality, equity, the economic viability of operators, the geographic distribution of this public service, and its availability in certain areas.
The purpose of the competitive bidding process is to ensure transparency, fairness, healthy competition among bidders, and a balance between supply and demand, while guaranteeing a high level of service quality for citizens. The board of directors of NARSA deemed that these objectives could not be met by maintaining the call for tenders No. 01/NARSA/2023, which is the subject of your question—hence the decision to cancel it.
The new master plan for vehicle inspection includes a regulated authorization of new centers. How will you prevent it from becoming a rent-seeking opportunity for certain operators?
According to the Highway Code and its implementing regulations, authorizations to open and operate vehicle inspection centers (CCTs) are granted only after the launch of a competitive bidding process based on a master plan defining the actual need for inspection centers.
The new master plan for the vehicle inspection sector was developed based on an in-depth analysis of the current state of the sector, while incorporating a projection of its evolution over the next three years. This study, built on precise assumptions and rigorous calculation methods, identified the real need for inspection centers that the administration can open to competition for investors—a total of 240 centers across the national territory. It also identified municipalities where existing centers have low traffic, in order to prohibit the establishment of new CCTs in those areas.
Furthermore, the selection of bidders will be carried out through precise and objective evaluation criteria, taking into account the challenges encountered during the previous tender process, which has been canceled. A key decision has been made to eliminate the tie-breaker criterion. As a result, the total number of projects awarded in the next call for tenders will in no case exceed the total number of CCTs defined by the master plan.
It should also be noted that once a project is selected following the open call for tenders—open to all potential investors with no restrictions—the bidder must make significant investments in land, building construction, acquisition of inspection equipment, and recruitment of the required human resources, all in accordance with the clearly defined requirements in the tender specifications and applicable regulations. In this context, the authorization to open and operate an inspection center is only granted after the administration has verified that all requirements have been met.
It is important to stress that audit and inspection operations are regularly conducted by the administration to ensure ongoing compliance with regulatory standards by authorized inspection centers, preventing any rent-seeking behavior. Non-compliance identified during these operations may result in the temporary or permanent withdrawal of the operating license for these inspection centers.
You have signed several agreements aimed at integrating artificial intelligence into transportation. Specifically, what will be the first visible applications for citizens?
“The acceleration of digital transformation and AI in the rail sector has been elevated to a strategic pillar of development and innovation”
Three agreements specifically involving ONCF, ONDA, and SNTL were signed on May 15, 2025, with the Foundation for Research, Development, and Innovation in Science and Engineering. They aim to stimulate research in the transport and logistics sectors, leverage technological advancements and AI to optimize transport flows, reduce maintenance costs, enhance safety, and improve the efficiency and performance of operations.
For the rail sector, the projects selected in this first phase of partnership with the Foundation focus on developing and implementing AI-based intermodal transport management systems, as well as automating the processes for detecting and locating surface defects on high-speed trains.
It should be noted that the acceleration of digital transformation and AI in the rail sector has been elevated to a strategic pillar of development and innovation, supported by the rollout of a catalyst program covering the entire value chain.
Written in French by Younes Saoury, edited in English by Eric Nielson
