Morocco port operating at full speed

TANGIERS, Morocco, Apr 04 (AFP): Home only to grazing sheep just a decade or so ago, a stretch of Moroccan coastline near Tangiers is now abuzz as its new port presses full speed ahead towards expansion.

Inaugurated in 2007, the Tanger-Med port complex, not far from the Strait of Gibraltar, handled 51.3 million tonnes of cargo-on a par with the Port of London.

Its industrial park, connected to a free-trade zone, is creating jobs at a rate that "exceeds expectations", according to port chief Jaafar Mrhardy.

With 750 companies and thousands of employees, it generated 5.5 billion euros ($6.8 billion) of revenue in 2017.

The port's strategic location, growing industrial zone and cheaper local labour have attracted shippers, truckers and businessmen alike, but its ambitions do not stop there.

Tanger-Med, which expects its Tanger Med II extension to triple container capacity by 2019, is aiming to become the Mediterranean's top port.