Bikya Masr
Joseph Mayton
Morocco looks to Japan for solar investment.
Morocco has already pushed itself into the forefront of the renewable energy drive, and now wants to keep moving forward by attracting Japanese investment to the country as it continues development on ambitious solar power operations in the country.
On a recent visit to Japan, Morocco’s Foreign Minister Saad Dine el-Otmani said that he hopes to assist foreign companies from reducing red tape in order to enter the North African market, and added that companies wanting to be part of the Desertec and government solar power initiatives, would be given priority.
“Morocco has long sunlight and has great hidden potential to develop solar energy. Therefore, it would benefit both Japanese corporations and Morocco if they develop solar energy in our country,” he said.
He argued that Japan is in the unique position of understanding how to make energy safe based on their experience with the earthquake and tsunami that hit and devastated the country last year, resulting in the nuclear incident at Fukushima.
Morocco’s ministry of foreign affairs, in a phone interview on Thursday, said that they would look at how to reduce the steps involved in entering the energy business in the country “and these proposals have already been tabled and are being looked at by the appropriate people.”
Solar power in Morocco, with its abundance of sun and open-air space, could be the future of energy, the government has repeatedly said. They hope that by the end of this decade to have nearly 25 percent of its energy needs provided by alternative sources, including solar and wind power.
“It is an uphill battle, but we will get there,” said the ministry commenting on where the money will come from to fund the ambitious projects.
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