Al Futtaim capital unveils mega-project in Morocco
Al-Futtaim Capital, part of Dubai-based conglomerate Al Futtaim Group, is to finance and develop a 40,000-home affordable housing project in ¬Morocco.
According to the press release from the company, Al Futtaim Capital is in the final stages of acquiring a seven million square meter plot of land in Bouznika, about halfway between Morocco’s capital, Rabat, and its business hub, Casablanca, where hundreds of thousands of people commute daily. This is the company’s first major foray into the North African country. This is Al-Futtaim’s third large-scale mixed-use project after the Dubai Festival City and Cairo Festival City – under the ‘Festival City’ concept. The investment will be done through the Al-Futtaim MENA Real Estate Development Fund, which raised about $500 million in May last year, according to Gulfnews reports.
Marwan Shehadeh, the managing director of Al-Futtaim Capital said “We had been looking for Morocco for over five years now; We will do around 40,000 units over 10 to 15 years”. “The project is totally in line with the government policy of supporting the middle to low-income class and to eliminate the shanty towns,” Mr Shehadeh said.
The total cost of the project, including land, infrastructure and construction will be more than US$2 billion (Dh7.3bn) and the development will also include shops. “This is our first investment in Morocco and we are keen to grow there towards other areas of our business, namely insurance, retail, automotive,” he said.
Omar A. Al Futtaim, chief Executive Officer, Al Futtaim said: “Despite the slowdown in the global economy, there is strength, diversity and depth to the Moroccan economy and we see many good reasons to be confident about our investment. This acquisition gives us a foothold in Morocco that we intend to build on .The Moroccan project is expected to start next year”.
Al-Futtaim Capital joined other UAE investors to have entered recently in the Moroccan low-income market, which includes Al Qudra Holding, which joined Addoha Group in building 359 villas in Tamesna. In April, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development began building 17,000 units in Kenitra.
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