Ford to Ramp Up Production in Morocco by 2020

PERSISMA, Rabat – A recent report by Bloomberg stated that Ford, the American car manufacturer, will be ramping up production in its plants in Morocco and five other African countries by the year 2020.

“Ford will start manufacturing 30 new vehicle models by 2020 in African countries, including South Africa, Morocco, Nigeria, Gambia, Ghana and Kenya,” Jim Benintende, Ford’s president of Middle East and Africa, told Bloomberg.

Just yesterday, the Michigan-based company released the details of a USD 167 million investment in Pretoria, the South African capital, which will create nearly 1,200 jobs by building 10,000 copies of Ford’s Everest model a year.

In May 2015, Ford announced the opening of an assembly plant in Tangier. The company’s executive chairman, William Clay Ford Jr. came to the ceremony in Morocco and spoke to the minister of industry Hafid El-Alami in a private meeting.

Casablanca Finance City – recently named Africa’s best financial center – also heads its Africa operations from the kingdom’s coastal city. Over 100 other major multinational companies also maintain a regional base in Casablanca. (Zainab Calcuttawala)