MOROCCO –Morocco’s postal service, Barid Al-Maghrib has entered into a partnership with European car manufacturer PSA Group for the development of electric cars purely purposed for mail delivery.
The partnership between Barid Al-Maghrib and PSA will see the car manufacture develop an adapted version of the “225 Citroen Ami,” a 100% electric car.
Citroen which is part of the PSA Group, is manufacturing the 100% electric vehicle at its plant in Kenitra, near Rabat, with the aim to serve Barid Al-Maghrib’s mail-parcel distribution network.
The postal service will use the electric car specifically for the mail-parcel distribution network across Morocco.
Commenting on the development, Minister of Industry Moulay Hafid Elalamy said that the innovative vehicle is a first step for Morocco’s urban electric mobility industry.
He said, Citroen Ami is part of Morocco’s vision to develop a high added value industry guided by the principles of sustainable development.
“This agreement reflects government policy, making public procurement a lever for the development of industrial ecosystems creating jobs and developing exports,” Elalamy added.
Samir Cherfan, PSA Group’s director for Africa and Middle East region, said the vehicle is the fruit of the collaboration between PSA Group’s central and Moroccan teams in design, engineering, purchasing, and production.
Cherfan said the electric car agreement is another brick in the building of PSA Group in Morocco and in the Middle East/Africa region.
On his part, General Manager of Morocco’s postal service, Amin Benjelloun Touimi, said Barid Al Maghrib “commits to realize its ambitions in terms of reducing its environmental footprint for clean and sustainable mobility.”
The project is in line with Morocco’s approach to position itself as a continental leader in the automotive and green energy fields.
When it comes to green energy, Morocco is already a leader in the Middle East and Africa region, investing about US$5.6 billion in the sector during the past years, according to the country’s Minister for Energy Aziz Rabbah.
Rabbah says that the country plans to invest a similar amount in renewable energy, to accelerate move towards achieving its goal of producing over 50% of its energy from renewables.
In September, Moulay Hafid Elalamy said that Morocco could become the most competitive automotive hub in the world.
He added that the North African country plans to take advantage of all opportunities that the COVID-19 crisis has offered to become a worldwide leader in the sector.
“If the country was able to produce respirators, intensive care beds, and other necessities in mere weeks, imagine what we could do over time,” Elalamy pointed out.
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