Yokogawa Group, a global leading industrial instrumentation and maintenance company has revealed its plans to launch a subsidiary in Morocco’s largest city, Casablanca.
Although the company already operates in Africa through distributors and integrators such as Metis Africa, which covers a dozen sub-Saharan countries, Yokogawa is set to take on the Moroccan market directly.
With the new subsidiary, the group aims to expand its customer base in Morocco in various economic sectors such as energy, chemicals and petrochemicals, drug manufacturing, agri-food, and water/waste treatment.
Theis planned entry into Morocco comes as other international organisations venture into the African country. Just recently, a German electrical and electronic industrial technology company, Phoenix Contact launched a subsidiary in Morocco. Also, in March, Toyo Ink SC Holdings Co. Ltd., the parent company of the Japanese Toyo Ink Group also unveiled plans of setting up its first African office in Casablanca.
The latest development is significant for Morocco, which has continued to attract foreign investors. Although Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) declined in 2017, it bounced back last year, with $4.2 billion coming in from France, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Spain.
France’s investment in Morocco is up 25 percent since 2017, led by the renewable energy and automotive sectors. In 2016, Italy’s Enel announced its project of five wind farms in Morocco. The project, which is in partnership with Siemens of Germany, is worth $1.2 billion. Meanwhile, Japan’s Sumitomo and Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power International are building solar plants in the North African nation.
More so, Chinese companies have been building the Noor 2 and Noor 3 solar parks in Morocco. The multibillion-dollar project, expected to be the largest solar park in the world, is due to be completed this year. The first phase of the project has been operational since 2016.
Morocco’s attraction as a destination for foreign investments may be partly due to the country’s decision in 2016 to create 12 special economic zones in its regions. These special zones offer tax incentives and other advantages to attract foreign industrial investors. In return, increased FDI helps to develop the economy by increasing domestic capital and enhancing efficiency through the transfer of new technology, marketing and managerial skills, innovation, and best practices.
The Yokogawa Group, founded in 1915, provides industrial automation and test and measurement solutions. The company generates a turnover of about $3.8 billion and employs 18,300 people through a hundred subsidiaries including 17 production sites worldwide.
By Tobiloba Ishola.
