Chinese-African Joint EV Battery Venture Pushes Through Western Tariffs
China continues its cooperation with Africa to negate Western tariffs on its EV battery industry with its latest partnership with Morocco.
CNGR Advanced Material is leading the charge in forming a Chinese industrial base in Morocco to overcome Western restrictions on its EV battery technology and target lucrative European and North American markets.
CNGR Advanced Materials subsidiary CNGR Morocco New Energy boasts a 50.03% stake in the brand-new joint venture COBCO. Together with investment fund Al Mada, which focuses on the African market, the brand-new plant in Jorf Lasar, a key Moroccan deep-water commercial port, began producing nickel-based precursor cathode active materials in January 2025.
The plant in Jorf Lasar is part of a $2 billion deal signed in 2023 to create a sprawling facility to produce lithium-iron phosphate, waste battery recycling, and ternary precursors. It’s the latest move on behalf of China’s booming EV battery industry to avoid restrictions placed upon it by both the United States and the European Union (EU).
Initially, the plant will be producing Nickel-Cobalt-Manganese (NCM) EV battery materials. These materials will then be used to complete lithium-ion batteries for the next generation of EVs. COBCO said this step is vital for creating sustainable battery material to further greenify the industry.
A statement from COBCO claimed this brand-new industrial base will position the company as a global player to meet the growing demand for battery components and bridge the deficit between supply and demand.
However, this is only the first step in this Chinese-African joint venture. Future phases will involve expanding the plant to enable it to incorporate black mass recycling facilities and production lines for LFP cathode active materials. It’s estimated that the combined capacity of the facility will amount to 70 gigawatt-hours, which could power over a million EVs yearly.
China is widely recognized as the world leader in EV battery technology, with its innovations transforming the EV industry. However, trade disputes with Western nations have stifled its ability to serve these lucrative markets. By building production facilities outside of China, it’s an opportunity for China to strengthen its relationships with allies worldwide and avoid restrictions on its domestic industrial base.
Additionally, Morocco is expected to see a tremendous economic boost, with hundreds of jobs expected to arise in the short term and hundreds more in the coming years. Plus, this could position Africa as a player in the EV production industry.