TRANSPORT AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

TRANSPORT AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS 

Summary: Morocco transport system needs renovation. Therefore, in December 2005, Morocco received a loan of U.S. $ 286 million from the African Development Bank to fund broader institutional reforms in the transport sector. The reforms, which involve physical improvements to roads, ports, airports and railways in the country, are designed to increase safety and reduce costs in the transport system. Reforms are carried out in the spirit of liberalization, implying a role of the state is down and a greater role for the private sector. 

Road: The road network in Morocco needs improvement. Congestion is a problem, as well as accessibility in rural areas. The system consists of 57694 km of roads, 32551 km are paved. Between 1995 and 2005, the World Bank financed the paving or partially improved land 10000 km gravel roads. In 2015, it is expected to do the same for an additional 15,000 miles. In 2009 Morocco plans to complete the construction of a road linking the cities of Marrakech and Agadir. At the end of 2001, Morocco had 1.25 million passenger cars, 431,000 trucks, and just over 20,000 motorcycles and scooters. 

Morocco

Railways: The National Railway operates the railway network of Morocco 1907 km, generally considered far below Western standards. Some 1003 km of tracks are electrified. Rolling stock includes 213 locomotives. In 2003, the paths of Moroccan iron carried approximately 16.5 million passengers. 

Ports: Casablanca is Morocco's main port, but by international standards that handles relatively small volumes of container traffic. In 2003, Casablanca ranked 127th in the world in the movement of containers. Other important ports are Mohammedia, Jorf Lasfar, Agadir and Nador. Morocco leads a port reform and modernization program to make competitive port system at the international level. Morocco also plans to build a new super-port of Tanger-Med in 2007. This new facility, located on the south side of the Strait of Gibraltar, and is under construction. It is designed to accommodate tankers, container ships, passenger ships and high speed craft. 

Waterways: Morocco has no waterways. Rivers are used mainly for irrigation. 

Civil Aviation and Airports: Morocco has 60 airports, 25 of which have paved the track. The main international airports are located in Casablanca, Tangier and Agadir. Royal Air Morocco, the national airline, has a fleet of 37 aircraft, mainly manufactured by Boeing. During fiscal 2004, the airline carried 3.7 million passengers. 

Pipes: Morocco has 695 km of natural gas pipelines and 285 miles of pipelines. A pipeline that transports natural gas from Algeria to Spain and Portugal via Morocco and the Strait of Gibraltar. 

Telecommunications: Morocco is in the midst of a campaign to deregulate and liberalize the telecommunications sector. In 2001, the national telecom operator in the country, Morocco Telecom (MT), was privatized. A media company and international telecommunications based in Paris has a majority stake in MT. After privatization, TA has been deprived of its monopoly on fixed telephony and mobile telephony. A joint venture Portugal and Spain compete with MT for both types of service. Although the telephone system uses modern Morocco, the fixed telephone service is relatively undeveloped; in 2004, only 1.3 million people use the fixed telephony service, 4 percent of the population. In contrast, Morocco had more than 9.3 million mobile phone users in the same year, which accounts for about 30 percent of the population. Morocco has 3.5 million Internet users in 2005, but Internet access is expensive and far behind the popularity phone. Moroccans 3.1 million and 6.6 million radios televisions.