This round table, which allowed a focus on the city of Casablanca, was an opportunity for participants to highlight the challenges and perspectives of urban logistics, seen by public sector actors and private operators. involved in the value chain.
On this occasion, the Director General of the National Ports Agency (ANP), Nadia Laraki, immediately underlined the Agency’s acute awareness of the crucial importance of logistics in urban development.
Indeed, she affirmed that the ANP could legitimately be perceived as the Kingdom’s leading logistician, thus facilitating Morocco’s opening up internationally.
Ms. Laraki also cited some key data on Casablanca port activity. With a volume of 1.1 million private vehicles and a substantial amount of imported goods reaching 250 billion dirhams (MMDH), the port of Casablanca remains a major player in the national economy, she said. to be worth.
He continued that more than 1,000 freight forwarders regularly use the city’s port infrastructure, hence the crucial importance of road and rail connectivity for the proper functioning of the port.
With an average of 7,000 trucks per day, it has become imperative to channel transport flows and integrate the port of Casablanca more efficiently into the motorway network, in order to reduce the impact on urban traffic, estimated the DG of the ANP.
Furthermore, Ms. Laraki insisted on the need to diversify port activities while taking into account the imperatives of sustainable development. “The ANP has therefore worked on initiatives aimed at improving harmony between the port and the city, in particular by promoting a better maritime connection to decongest port and urban areas. This strategy aims to promote a transition towards a multimodal logistics zone , offering sustainable solutions to transport and urbanization challenges.
For his part, Anas Arhbal, Director of Supply Chain at Centrale Danone, shared the company’s logistics experience in order to demonstrate the complexity and challenges of the supply chain.
Centrale Danone manages a logistics network of 500 trucks and supplies no less than 75,000 points of sale across Morocco, he said, adding that Casablanca represents a significant part, or 20% of the company’s distribution activity. business.
Mr. Arhbal highlighted the specificity of the company’s activity which consists of distributing ultra-fresh products with a “just in time” requirement, due to a use-by date of only 4 days.
“This constraint imposes enormous logistical challenges, especially when it comes to serving areas such as medinas, requiring adaptation of delivery vehicles and the use of insulated boxes,” he explained.
Placed under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Logismed 2024 is being held until May 9, under the theme “What logistics strategies face economic, geopolitical and environmental challenges?”.
This show brings together stakeholders from the logistics community in the broad sense around a particularly rich program of exhibitions, conferences and meetings.