The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a €100 million loan to Gotion Power Morocco to support the construction of Africa’s first integrated lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery gigafactory in the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Free Trade Zone.
The project, led by Shenzhen-listed Gotion High-Tech Co. Ltd., will establish the first fully integrated battery manufacturing facility in both Africa and the Middle East, producing battery components from cathode materials through to finished battery cells.
The plant’s first phase will have an annual production capacity of 10 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of battery cells and packs for electric vehicles, with long-term plans to scale output to 100 GWh.
AfDB Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth Kevin Kariuki said large-scale battery storage is essential to accelerating Africa’s clean energy transition, noting that the facility will support greater integration of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind into electricity grids.
In addition to its direct financing, the AfDB intends to mobilise up to €141 million from development finance partners for the project under the New African Financial Architecture for Development (NAFAD), where it is acting as the Mandated Lead Arranger.
Alongside the Morocco investment, the AfDB has also finalised a loan of up to US$15 million for the Biologicals and Vaccines Institute of South Africa (Biovac) to finance a new vaccine manufacturing facility in Cape Town.
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The project is expected to strengthen Africa’s pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity by enabling Biovac to become the continent’s first fully integrated producer of oral cholera vaccines and South Africa’s first manufacturer of locally produced inactivated polio vaccines. It will also make Biovac the first African company to produce inactivated polio vaccines through technology-transfer partnerships with Sanofi, the International Vaccine Institute, Biological E Limited, EuBiologics and Bharat Biotech.
Separately, the AfDB has approved a €200 million loan to support the “Clean Air” project being implemented by Société Ivoirienne de Raffinage (SIR) in Côte d’Ivoire.
The project involves the design, construction and commissioning of a diesel hydrodesulphurisation complex aimed at producing cleaner fuels. With an estimated total cost of €833 million, it will be financed through a consortium of development finance institutions and other partners.
