Name of the municipality: Kenitra
Population: 483,000 inhabitants (2014)
Area: 103.55 km2
President: Mr. Aziz Rabbah
Contact: Mr. Khalid Ikrou: khalidikrou@gmail.com
Website: www.kenitra.ma
Main features:
Kenitra is a city in north-eastern Morocco, formerly called Port-Lyautey under the French protectorate, located about 40 kilometers north of Rabat, the administrative capital. The city is the fourth industrial city of the Kingdom.
It is one of the major Moroccan cities linking the northern cities to the capital. It is located on the south bank of the Oued Sebou, 12 km from the mouth on the Atlantic Ocean towards Mehdia.
With the biggest national forest (Maâmora Forest), the city features a geostrategic position and boasts significant natural, ecological and socio-economic potential. Such assets grant it an advantageous situation that naturally guide Kenitra towards sustainable and ecological development in long-term environmental perspective, which holds a strong potential of reproduction for other Communes.
Main economic activities:
Economic capital of the historic Gharb region in the northwest of the country, Kenitra is considered today as one of the main Moroccan cities. It is famous among other things for its export of agricultural products, and is often cited as the agricultural capital of Morocco.
The port of Kenitra on the Sebou River is the first and only Moroccan river port. Kénitra will also host Atlantic Free Zone, the largest export Free Zone on the African continent (345 ha), for commercial trading activities in the Maghreb. Like the entire Moroccan northern coast, the city has benefited for five years from the Azur Plan and the various developments in force to improve and organize tourist areas, enhance the cultural and natural heritage of the northern region, and lastly raise awareness of the population and visitors to sustainable development.
Conditions and environmental challenges:
Through several projects and studies, the Municipality of Kenitra aims to improve and develop the site of Merjat Fouarat to achieve several specific objectives.
For the communal action plan (PAC); the municipality has programmed several environmental projects, such as the construction of a landfill and waste recovery facility.