meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Maghreb rail sector heads for boom

5 July 2024

 

The Maghreb region is headed for a potential surge in railway scheme development, with upcoming projects worth tens of billions of dollars in pre-execution and set to swell the $7.6bn of rail schemes currently at the execution stage, according to regional projects tracker MEED Projects.

There are $18.5bn-worth of rail projects in prequalification or bid in Algeria and Morocco right now, led by an $11.2bn expansion of Morocco’s high-speed railway network.

Building on a $2.4bn stretch of high-speed rail between Tangier and Casablanca that was delivered in 2018, the expansion plans include a further $4.5bn-worth of line development between Kenitra and Marrakech and a $5.6bn line across the more mountainous terrain from Marrakech to Agadir.

Morocco’s rail prospects are also being boosted by the revival of the Spain-Morocco tunnel project.

In June 2023, the Spanish government revived plans for a Morocco-to-Spain undersea rail link project after allocating about $2.5m for a renewed design study. The project was first launched in 2003 but was put on hold after the 2008 financial crisis. It has undergone several rounds of feasibility studies but remains in the study stage after nearly two decades of funding-linked delays.

The plans involve a double-rail track with an additional service line stretching 38.5 kilometres (km) from Tarifa in Spain to Tangier in Morocco. The technically challenging scheme involves a 28km section running under the Mediterranean Sea at a maximum depth of 475 metres below sea level.

This is significantly deeper than the comparable Channel Tunnel between the UK and France, which at its deepest lies only 75 metres below the seabed and 115 metres below sea level.

In Algeria, there is meanwhile upwards of $5bn-worth of work in prequalification as part of the National Railway Programme being pursued by the country’s rail authority Anesrif, including a multibillion-dollar planned rail line to connect Oran on the northwest coast to the Algeria-Mali border.

There is also a significant volume of work in the design and study phases, including a $10bn electrification scheme announced by Algeria and due for prequalification in 2025 and award in early 2026 – a clear sign that Algiers is committed to delivering a modern public transport network.

Other planned rail modernisation and expansion schemes in the region include the Mohammadia-Mascara railway line in Algeria, the extension of Rabat-Sale light rail in Morocco and the extension of the Sfax light rail in Tunisia.

Ongoing projects

In terms of projects already under execution, the rail activity in the region is currently being led almost entirely by $7.4bn-worth of work Algeria. Many of the existing rail projects are long-standing ones, however, with the average duration of ongoing projects exceeding four-and-a-half years.

The value of new project awards in the rail sector in recent years has been subdued. In the past two years, there have been just $1.2bn of rail awards across the four countries of the Maghreb region.

The largest ongoing projects in Algeria are the Oued Tlelat-Akid Abbes railway line upgrade, the Tlemcen-Akid Abbes railway and the Tebessa-Ain M'lila railway line – the combined value of which is about $3.5bn.

In April, Anesrif also restarted the Relizane-Tiaret-Tissemsilt component of its $1.9bn East-West rail network expansion after a pause of several years and a change of contractors.

The contract with the previous group of contractors, which included Spain’s Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC) and local company Groupe ETRHB Haddad, was terminated.

In June, the client awarded a new $231m contract for lots one and two of the project to a consortium of local contractors, including EPTP Alger, GCB, Infrafer and Societe Algerienne des Ponts et Travaux d’Art.

Lot one includes works on the Relizane, Tiaret, Tissemsilt and Saida/Tiaret sections, spanning 10km. The remaining works are expected to be completed in 10 months. Lot two includes works on the Tiaret and Tissemsilt section, covering 63.5km, and will be due within 20 months.

Another major rail project under way in Algeria is the project to connect the Gara Djebilet iron ore mine in Western Algeria’s Tindouf province with the national rail network at Bechar.

In January, Algeria selected a team of Beijing-headquartered China Railway Construction Corporation and local contractor Cosider Travaux Publics for a contract to build a 575km railway line. The precise value of the project is unknown, but it could be worth $900m-$1.2bn.

In Tunisia, railway projects worth over $227m are in the execution phase. The biggest railway schemes under way include lots one and five of the country’s Rapid Rail Network. Morocco and Libya do not have any major railway schemes under execution, according to MEED Projects.

In general, with few significant projects awarded in the past two years, construction companies and rail sector suppliers will be eagerly awaiting the upcoming opportunities in the region.

If even a modest share of the large volume of work planned in Algeria and Morocco comes to fruition, contractors in the rail sector in the region could experience a boom.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/12031529/main.gif
Yasir Iqbal

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Thermal plants resurgence creates crossroads

    25 April 2025

    Commentary
    Jennifer Aguinaldo
    Energy & technology editor

    The GCC states awarded some $27bn-worth of gas-fired power plant contracts in 2024, up 127% from the previous year's figure, and nearly 300-fold the value of similar contracts awarded in 2019, which sat at a record low of $93m.

    And, while the values of awarded thermal plant and renewable energy plant contracts achieved parity in 2023, clients awarded thermal power plant contracts with a total value that was 172% higher than all awarded renewable contracts put together last year.

    This trend establishes the return of gas as a feedstock for power generation plants across the GCC states, following years where only a handful of deals came through as a result of offtakers and utilities expanding their scope for renewable energy in line with their energy diversification plans.

    The energy transition focus and the muted electricity demand growth throughout Covid-19 and shortly after the pandemic has meant that the comeback of thermal power plants has been fraught with challenges.

    There is a squeeze on top original equipment manufacturers' capacity, with the top suppliers having clipped their capacity expansion plans in line with the anticipation that demand will fall, rather than rise, as the implementation of energy transition programmes took hold.

    The sheer volume of new combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) projects in the GCC and nearly everywhere else has also put pressure on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors, which are now becoming more selective about which projects to bid on to manage project delivery risks. 

    This has led or is leading to a higher levelised cost of electricity (LCOE), as a diminished number of utility developers and investors that are still interested in bidding for thermal plant projects seek to protect their profit margins from elevated market risks. 

    This, in turn, collides with most offtakers' and utilities' mandates to achieve "least-cost" energy transition.

    It is also unclear if the demand spike in CCGT, as well as the so-called peaker – or open-cycle gas turbine – plants, is short-lived, as a means to address the intermittency of renewables or replace liquid fuel-fired fleets, as in the case of Saudi Arabia. Or if it is long-lasting, as a permanent solution to achieving security of supply that will have to co-exist with the emerging battery energy storage systems (bess) technology.

    Based on MEED Projects data, the existing project pipeline for thermal power plants in the GCC remains robust, with about $10bn under bid, $9.4bn in prequalification, and over $22bn under study and design.

    However, this pipeline is significantly smaller compared to over $90bn of planned and unawarded renewable projects.

    The continued deployment of renewables with or without bess, and the need to interconnect grids, will dictate to a large extent the pace at which offtakers and utilities in the region continue procuring thermal power plants.

    It requires everyone in the supply chain to adopt an adroit and flexible strategy that will enable them to meet their net-zero targets while keeping their shareholders happy.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13754375/main.gif
    Jennifer Aguinaldo
  • Siemens Energy starts construction on Iraq plant

    25 April 2025

    Iraq and Germany’s Siemens Energy have broken ground on a project to build a new combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant in Nasiriyah in Iraq’s southern Dhi Qar governorate.   

    The project is part of a $1.68bn development package that Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani recently launched.

    In addition to the CCGT plant, the other projects include the Nasiriyah Integrated Medical City, a 700-bed hospital complex and infrastructure works in the Suq Al-Shuyukh district.

    The Nasiriyah CCGT plant is understood to be “hydrogen-ready”.

    This development follows the Council of Ministers’ approval in August last year of a project to rehabilitate the Baiji 2 gas-fired power station, which Siemens Energy and Beijing-based China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) will undertake.

    CSCEC will be responsible for financing the Baiji 2 project, supplying and installing auxiliary equipment such as the fuel system, fire suppression systems, compressors, pipelines and valves, and the civil works. 

    For finance, the contractor will explore securing export credit support from China.

    Photo credit: Siemens Energy, for illustrative purposes only

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13754307/main.jpg
    Jennifer Aguinaldo
  • April 2025: Data drives regional projects

    25 April 2025

    Click here to download the PDF

    Includes: Commodity tracker | Construction risk | Brent Spot Price | Construction output

    MEED’s May 2025 report on the UAE includes:

    > COMMENT: UAE is poised to weather the storm
    > GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY: UAE looks to economic longevity
    > BANKING: UAE banks dig in for new era
    > UPSTREAM: Adnoc in cruise control with oil and gas targets
    > DOWNSTREAM: Abu Dhabi chemicals sector sees relentless growth
    > POWER: AI accelerates UAE power generation projects sector
    > CONSTRUCTION: Dubai construction continues to lead region
    > TRANSPORT: UAE accelerates its $60bn transport push
    > DATABANK: UAE growth prospects head north

    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13754417/main.gif
    MEED Editorial
  • UAE growth prospects head north

    25 April 2025

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13754369/main.gif
    MEED Editorial
  • UAE is poised to weather the storm

    25 April 2025

    Commentary
    John Bambridge
    Analysis editor

    Despite the rising turmoil in global markets due to US-imposed tariffs, the UAE is well positioned to cope thanks to a combination of strong fiscal and macroeconomic fundamentals and government-supported project spending.

    Abu Dhabi is set to comfortably achieve a fiscal surplus for the fifth year running in 2025, even with the recent dip in global oil prices, which has still brought prices nowhere near the $50-a-barrel fiscal breakeven point that according to the IMF would tip the UAE into the red. Also working in the government’s favour is the expected increase in the country’s oil production output due to the phasing out of some of its voluntary production cuts this year. 

    Beyond oil, the UAE’s greater degree of non-oil diversification relative to other oil-exporting markets in the Gulf and wider region provide it with a more stable revenue base, while the country’s financial institutions remain on a strong growth heading – thanks to their burgeoning project finance loan books.

    The market confidence is also reflected in the growth of residential property sales in Dubai by 30% in 2024 – with housing being one of the main contributions to the albeit restrained 2% consumer price inflation in the country at large. 

    Economic strength

    The UAE also retains its role as an economic beacon for the Middle East and beyond. Dubai real estate purchases by Chinese and Russian buyers saw double-digit growth in 2024 and could account for more than 30% of sales in 2025.

    The UAE economy is being staunchly supported by both public and private spending in the projects sector, which hit $94bn in contract awards for the second year running, according to regional projects tracker MEED Projects – far in excess of the $30bn average in the three years before.

    The projects boom is being driven by a combination of expansionary government spending on infrastructure and renewed investment in property and real estate by both state-owned and private developers alike. There are about $140bn-worth of projects currently under execution in the energy, infrastructure and utilities sectors, and a similar figure in the building sector alone.

    This buoyancy is continuing in 2025, with the $27bn in new project awards to date outstripping the value of project completions by a factor of almost three and setting the market on track for another exceptional year.

    Abu Dhabi is meanwhile hedging its geopolitical fortunes by promising to invest $1.4tn into the US over 10 years – a pledge that will both secure access to the US’ dominant technology market and please the transactional US president.

    While the UAE was only ever in line for the minimum 10% reciprocal tariff imposed as a blanket measure across the world, it does the country no harm at all to build up additional political capital in Washington ahead of whatever whim next takes hold in the office of the presidency.

     

    MEED’s May 2025 report on the UAE includes:

    > GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY: UAE looks to economic longevity
    > BANKING: UAE banks dig in for new era
    > UPSTREAM: Adnoc in cruise control with oil and gas targets
    > DOWNSTREAM: Abu Dhabi chemicals sector sees relentless growth
    > POWER: AI accelerates UAE power generation projects sector
    > CONSTRUCTION: Dubai construction continues to lead region
    > TRANSPORT: UAE accelerates its $60bn transport push
    > DATABANK: UAE growth prospects head north

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13726696/main.gif
    John Bambridge