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Morocco: TRANSPORTATION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Overview: Morocco’s transportation system is in need of renewal. Accordingly, in December 2005 Morocco obtained a loan of US$286 million from the African Development Bank to finance wide-ranging institutional reforms of the transport sector. The reforms, which entail physical improvements to the nation’s roads, ports, airports, and railroads, are designed to increase safety and reduce costs across the entire transport system. Reforms are being carried out in the spirit of market liberalization, implying a diminished state role and a larger role for the private sector.
Roads: Morocco’s road network needs improvement. Congestion is a concern, as is accessibility in rural areas. The system encompasses 57,694 kilometers of roads, 32,551 kilometers of which are paved. Between 1995 and 2005, the World Bank partially funded the paving or upgrading from dirt to gravel of 10,000 kilometers of roads. By 2015 it plans to do the same for an additional 15,000 kilometers. By 2009 Morocco hopes to complete construction of a highway linking the cities of Marrakesh and Agadir. As of the end of 2001, Morocco had 1.25 million passenger cars, 431,000 trucks, and slightly more than 20,000 motorcycles and scooters.
Railroads: The National Railroad Office manages Morocco’s 1,907-kilometer rail network, generally regarded as substantially below Western standards. Some 1,003 kilometers of track are electrified. Rolling stock includes 213 locomotives. In 2003 Morocco’s railroads carried approximately 16.5 million passengers.
Ports: Casablanca is Morocco’s principal port, but by international standards it handles relatively modest volumes of container traffic. In 2003 Casablanca ranked 127th in the world in container throughput. Other major ports are Mohammedia, Jorf Lasfar, Agadir, and Nador. Morocco is pursuing a ports reform and modernization program to make the port system internationally competitive. In addition, Morocco plans to build a new super-port of Tangier-Mediterranean by 2007. This new facility, located on the southern side of the Strait of Gibraltar, is already under construction. It is designed to accommodate tankers, container ships, passenger ferries, and high-speed craft.
Inland Waterways: Morocco has no navigable inland waterways. Its rivers are primarily used for irrigation.
Civil Aviation and Airports: Morocco has 60 airports, 25 of which have paved runways. The main international airports are located in Casablanca, Tangier, and Agadir. Royal Air Maroc, the national airline, has a fleet of 37 aircraft, mostly manufactured by Boeing. During fiscal year 2004, the airline carried 3.7 million passengers.
Pipelines: Morocco has 695 kilometers of natural gas pipelines and 285 kilometers of oil pipelines. A pipeline carrying natural gas from Algeria to Spain and Portugal traverses Morocco and the Strait of Gibraltar.
Telecommunications: Morocco is in the midst of a campaign to deregulate and liberalize the telecommunications industry. In 2001 the country’s national telecommunications operator, Maroc Télécom (MT), was privatized. A Paris-based international media and telecommunications company owns a majority stake in MT. Following its privatization, MT was deprived of its monopoly control over fixed-line and mobile telecommunications services. A Spanish-Portuguese joint-venture company competes with MT for both types of service. Although Morocco’s telephone system uses modern technology, fixed-line service is relatively underdeveloped; in 2004 only 1.3 million inhabitants used fixed-line telephone service, about 4 percent of the population. By contrast, Morocco had more than 9.3 million mobile phone users the same year, representing about 30 percent of the population. Morocco had 3.5 million Internet users in 2005, but the Internet is expensive to access and lags well behind the telephone in popularity. Moroccans own 3.1 million television sets and 6.6 million radios.
AKI,Rabat, 24 Oct. (AKI) - Morocco's king Mohammed VI pardoned 617 prisoners to mark Eid ul-Fitr, the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the state news ... 10th Moroccan detainee transferred home from Guantanamo - 24 Oct 2006 International Herald Tribune,RABAT, Morocco US authorities have returned a Moroccan detainee from Guantanamo Bay to his home country, but his whereabouts remain unknown, a Moroccan human ... Referees to 29 October - Oct 23, 2006 Planet Rugby,...go to France. In the case of Morocco and Nambia it is a straight fight between the two. The winner goes to France. The four European ... Prayer leader in Belgium condemns western attacks on Prophet (PBUH ... - Oct 23, 2006 Islamic Republic News Agency,An estimated 450,000 Muslims mainly from Morocco, Turkey, Tunisia and Pakistan live in Belgium, which has a population of 10 million. Increased tourism means promise, peril for Morocco - Oct 20, 2006 Dallas Morning News (subscription),TARFAYA, Morocco – In this fishing village on Morocco's southern coast, French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery dreamed of the faraway worlds visited by his ... Morocco’s magic - Oct 22, 2006 Langley Times,Moments like this bring visitors back to Morocco over and over again, add to that great hospitality, weather and scenery and you have the complete exotic ... Morocco donates power generating sets to Mauritania - Oct 22, 2006 AngolaPress,Rabat, Morocco, 10/22 - The Moroccan government Friday donated five electricity generating sets with combined capacity of 440 KWA to Mauritania, to help stem ... ZU to participate in Morocco conference - Oct 22, 2006 Middle East North Africa Financial Network,...the college will participate in the four-day 11th "International Conference of the Arab-US Association for Communication Educators in Morocco, Khaleej Times ... FOREIGN OFFICE: NEW AMBASSADORS FOR ZAMBIA AND MOROCCO - Oct 21, 2006 Agenzia Giornalistica Italia,...(AGI) - Rome, 21 Oct - A change of guard in the embassies in Zambia and Morocco: the cabinet has appointed Giovanni Ceruti as ambassador in Lusaka and Umberto ... Morocco disbands riot police unit - Oct 17, 2006 BBC News,By Richard Hamilton. The Moroccan security forces have disbanded their riot police unit - the GUS - as part of a major reorganisation ... Morocco vying for clinical trial attention - Oct 18, 2006 OutSourcing-Pharma.com,18/10/2006 - As the clinical trial activities continue to flock towards emerging countries such as India, Morocco wants its share has been making efforts to ... Russia to develop partnership with Morocco - Lavrov - Oct 18, 2006 ITAR-TASS,MOSCOW, October 18 (Itar-Tass) - Russia is going to develop partnership with Morocco, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said opening his talks with his ... WESTERN SAHARA: ANNAN CALLS FOR MOROCCO-POLISARIO PEACE TALKS - Oct 19, 2006 AKI,New York, 19 Oct. (AKI) - Morocco and the Frente Polisario should drop any preconditions and begin negotiations to try to find a lasting solution to their long ... Annan calls for Morocco-Polisario peace talks - Oct 19, 2006 Alarab online,Morocco and the Frente Polisario should drop any preconditions and begin negotiations to try to find a lasting solution to their long-standing conflict in ... US TO INCLUDE LIBYA IN N. AFRICAN CI NETWORK - Oct 22, 2006 Middle East Newsline,Partnership. The group contains nine African states, including Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Morocco joined the group in 2005. The ... Morocco's under-17 team to face Nigeria in African Cup of Nations ... - Oct 17, 2006 magharebia.comMorocco's under-17 team will face Nigeria in the second round of the 2007 African Cup of Nations. The first leg will be played in ... Morocco's Olympic football team to play Belgium in friendly match - Oct 18, 2006 magharebia.comMorocco's Olympic football team will play their Belgian counterpart in a friendly match on November 15th, assistant coach Jamal Fathi announced. ... Big plans for Flames - Oct 22, 2006 The Nation, Malawi,...to a big club particularly in Europe to gain experience and that the national team should have a least three friendly matches before they meet Morocco in the ... RUSSIA-MOROCCO HOLD TALKS - Oct 18, 2006 Bahrain News Agency,MOSCOW, OCT. 18, (BNA)--RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SERGEY LAVROV HELD A MEETING IN MOSCOW TODAY WITH HIS MOROCCAN COUNTERPART MOHAMMED ... Morocco faces a choice between modernism and obscurantism - Oct 16, 2006 Daily Star - Lebanon,As Morocco prepares for the next parliamentary elections in 2007, the electoral-campaign battle has already begun, and intellectuals and civil society are ... Literacy programmes in Morocco and Rajasthan share first UNESCO ... - Oct 17, 2006 UNESCO (Communiqués de presse),16-10-2006 - An innovative national literacy scheme for marginalized adolescents in rural Morocco and a gender-sensitive Rajasthani continuing education ... Morocco's Groupes Urbains de Sécurité disbanded - Oct 18, 2006 magharebia.comThe Directorate General of National Security in Morocco announced Monday (October 16th) its decision to disband the Groupes Urbains de Sécurité (GUS) riot ... Breakfast with a view of Morocco - Oct 19, 2006 Radio Polonia,For Zbigniew Duchowicz his house, or rather castle, is the place to get away from everyday stress. ‘Beautiful gardens, I can look at Morocco if I wish ... FDI into Morocco reach nearly $3 billion in 2005 - Oct 17, 2006 magharebia.comForeign direct investment (FDI) into Morocco increased from $1.07 billion to $2.9 billion from 2004 to 2005, Marwane Mansouri, head of the studies and ... This series of profiles of foreign nations is part of the Country Studies Program, formerly the Army Area Handbook Program. The profiles offer brief, summarized information on a country’s historical background, geography, society, economy, transportation and telecommunications, government and politics, and national security. In addition to being featured in the front matter of published Country Studies, they are now being prepared as stand-alone reference aides for all countries in the series, as well as for a number of additional countries of interest. The profiles offer reasonably current country information independent of the existence of a recently published Country Study and will be updated annually or more frequently as events warrant. |
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