IN SHORT: The IFC approved a €95 million ($111 million) loan for Morocco’s OCP Group to build a 22-million-tonne phosphogypsum storage facility at its Jorf Lasfar complex, the world’s largest integrated fertiliser production site. The project also includes a strategic advisory component to help OCP identify commercial applications for phosphogypsum in agriculture, road construction and rare earth extraction, converting an industrial waste problem into a potential revenue stream.
The IFC has agreed to lend €95 million ($111 million) to OCP Group for a major waste management facility at its Jorf Lasfar site on Morocco’s Atlantic coast, where the world’s largest fertiliser complex generates rising volumes of phosphogypsum that must be managed as production scales toward 20 million tonnes by 2027. The IFC board approved the loan on May 11. The facility will store up to 22 million tonnes and stand 60 metres high, and is designed to create the infrastructure needed for future reuse of the material rather than purely treating it as disposal.
- Phosphogypsum is the main byproduct of turning phosphate rock into phosphoric acid. OCP generates large volumes at Jorf Lasfar, and managing that output is a prerequisite for the production expansion the company has committed to under its $13 billion Green Investment Plan running through 2027.
- The total project cost is €190 million. IFC covers half. The remainder is funded by OCP internally.
- The IFC deal includes a strategic advisory component to identify commercial uses for phosphogypsum: agriculture, road building, construction materials and rare earth extraction are all under active investigation as potential pathways from waste to input.
- Jorf Lasfar is already the world’s largest integrated fertiliser site. OCP’s production target of 20 million tonnes annually by 2027 is up from a current 12 million tonnes, meaning phosphogypsum volumes will grow substantially over the same period.
- The transaction extends the IFC’s existing partnership with OCP, which also covers a €100 million green loan for four solar plants at OCP mining sites and a water pipeline deal connecting desalination capacity at Jorf Lasfar to inland production facilities at Khouribga.
OCP is one of the most strategically significant industrial companies on the African continent. It controls approximately 70% of the world’s known phosphate reserves, positions Morocco as the supplier of last resort for global fertiliser markets, and sits at the intersection of food security, industrial decarbonisation and African agricultural development. The Hormuz conflict has driven fertiliser import costs to multi-year highs across sub-Saharan Africa, with the AU holding an emergency session on the disruption in late May 2026. In that context, OCP’s capacity expansion at Jorf Lasfar is consequential far beyond Morocco’s borders: the company supplies roughly 19% of EU fertiliser imports and is a primary source for India and much of Africa.
The Bigger Picture: The phosphogypsum facility is an enabling investment, not a headline one. Without effective waste management, OCP cannot scale Jorf Lasfar to 20 million tonnes by 2027. With it, OCP’s fertiliser expansion proceeds, Morocco’s strategic position as the world’s phosphate anchor deepens, and the IFC gets to turn a compliance problem into a model for circular industrial finance in Africa. If phosphogypsum reuse pathways prove viable, the €95 million lent for storage today could unlock a much larger secondary materials market. The rare earth extraction angle alone, if commercially proven, would be significant for Africa’s critical minerals agenda.
Source: <a href="https://en.hespress.com/135672-ocp-lines-up-95m-ifc-loan-to-tackle-waste-problem-at-jorf-lasfar.html”>Hespress, April 14 2026 / <a href="https://www.ecofinagency.com/news-finances/1304-54611-morocco-s-ocp-set-for-111-million-ifc-loan-for-phosphogypsum-storage-project”>Ecofin Agency, May 11 2026
