Morocco invests 2.1 billion in the first high-speed train in Africa (but not all)

From the end of this month, passengers travelling between Tangier and Casablanca to make use of a high-speed train. This is the first of its kind in Africa. The Moroccan king Mohammed VI and French president Macron celebrated the showcase Thursday pride in, but the vote in the North African country of sound divided.

Two hours. At that time, or you will soon be the more than 330 kilometers, which is the very northern Tangier and the popular seaside resort of Casablanca separate from each other. That is less than half the time that it today with an ordinary train costs.

With the first high-speed train on the African soil hopes king Mohamed VI the falling toerismecijfers re-boost. The king has been investing several years of intensive in the modernisation of its North African kingdom. Certainly the less attractive cities –such as the Tangier - undergo a well-deserved transformation.

There is of course a significant price tag connected. The fast train link between Tangier and Casablanca will only cost the government had 2.1 billion euros. They are, however, supported by allies Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and France, which, in turn, also the builder of the conscious TGV/LGV. French president Emmanuel Macron was also the guest of honour at the inauguration of the train, earlier this week.

However, there are also scattered criticism on the project and build its cost. Zouhair Ait Benhamou, an economic analyst at the French Financia Business School, the already gloomy. “The reason that the TGV system works so well, is because the French government highly subsidises”, he says to CNN. “If the passenger, after several years, still lower than expected, there will be for the Moroccan government also nothing else attached itself deep in the pouch to erode.”