OCP: The Guarantor of global food security, enters a new era of green investment under Royal guidance

The Cherifian Phosphates Office (OCP) has entered a new era with the presentation of the new Green Investment Program (2023-2027) and the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government and the Office regarding this program.

We are not dealing with a short-term work program, but rather with an integrated strategic program that supplements the work completed in the previous phase. Based on royal directives issued in 2012, the program allowed the group to establish a strong position in the fertilizer market, where fertilizer production capacities tripled, transforming the group into one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of phosphate fertilizers.

The group relied on Polytechnic University Mohammed VI’s (UM6P) research and development capacity to capitalize on the opportunities presented by new industrial and digital technologies, as well as to develop expertise in innovative techniques of sensible fertilization capable of meeting the challenges of sustainable agriculture and food security.

Following the success of the previous program, the new program is based on increasing fertilizer production capacities, with a commitment to carbon neutrality by 2040, relying on the unique potential of renewable energy and the Kingdom’s achievements in this field, thanks to the wise leadership and vision of His Majesty the King, May God Assist Him.

The group hopes to provide green energy to all of its industrial facilities by 2027 by investing in solar and wind.

This carbon-free capacity will allow the supply of new sea water desalination facilities to meet the needs of the Community, as well as the supply of drinking and irrigation water to the areas surrounding the Cherifian Phosphates Office sites.

In the long run, these investments will allow the Group, which is the world’s leading ammonia importer, to reduce its reliance on these imports by investing in the renewable energy chain, green hydrogen-ammoniac, which will permit it to enter the green fertilizer market with a vigor and composting solution tailored to the unique needs of different types of soil and agriculture.

This ambition will be reinforced through programs to support SMEs, as well as active enterprises in the energy and agriculture sectors, which will contribute to the emergence of an innovative national ecosystem, the creation of new jobs, and the professional integration of young people.

This new program, which aims to establish the OCP Group’s global position, involved a total investment of 130 billion dirhams over the period 2023-2027 and aims to achieve up to 70% local integration, as well as support 600 Moroccan industrial enterprises and create 25,000 direct and indirect jobs.

The Cherifian Phosphates Office (OCP) has evolved into a national institution with international influence and power, concerned with global food security rather than just the African continent. Morocco succeeded in renting a real phosphate industry thanks to the Foundation’s investment effort in the coming years, and most countries around the world are waiting for Moroccan fertilizers and phosphate derivatives to develop their agriculture, “It is simply a question of food security”.

Despite its international success and development, this institution has maintained its “Moroccan” spirit in achieving African solidarity, as demonstrated by the millions of tons of fertilizer distributed to African countries as direct assistance to help meet the food shortage challenge faced by a number of countries.