Five shore cranes stand ready over the Strait of Gibraltar as a tug tows a huge block of cement out to sea to take its place in the construction of a new port. To the north, distant passenger boats and the jutting shoreline of southern Spain appear through the haze.

The scene is calm for now but it is here in the northern tip of Morocco that the African state is investing much of its hopes to boost industry, create more than 100,000 jobs and diversify an economy overly dependent on the ups and downs of rain-fed agriculture.