Moroccan billionaire Anas Sefrioui's Addoha cleared to join Saudi housing projects

Moroccan billionaire Anas Sefrioui's Douja Promotion Groupe Addoha SA has been approved by Saudi Arabia's National Housing Co. to act as a partner developer in residential projects in the kingdom, putting the Casablanca-listed builder in line for its first market outside Africa.

Addoha said it is the first Moroccan and West African developer to obtain the qualification. The approval gives the company access to the NHC's residential "destinations" in Riyadh, where it can look at development opportunities and weigh future investments.

No project has been awarded yet. Addoha has not disclosed an investment amount, a timeline or a program. A delegation from the company met senior NHC executives and toured two of the state developer's Riyadh districts, but no plot has been allocated.

Sefrioui, Addoha's chairman and chief executive officer, called the approval an important milestone in a statement. He said the group will deepen talks with the NHC and study projects where its experience can contribute.

Two Riyadh districts

The first district Addoha visited is Khuzam, north of Riyadh near King Khalid International Airport and the Expo 2030 site. Addoha puts it at more than 4,500 hectares, with 52,000 homes and about 280,000 residents. The NHC describes it as 30 million square meters with more than 50,000 homes.

The second is Al Fursan, northeast of the city, which covers about 3,500 hectares and is planned for more than 69,000 homes and over 250,000 residents. The first 2,000 units there are being delivered this year.

The NHC hands residential programs to approved developers, which build on serviced land under master plans the state company sets. Qualification usually comes first, and a development agreement follows later. Spain's Urbas went through that sequence.

Rival developers are already at work in both districts. Egypt's Hassan Allam Holding and Saudi partner Tilal Real Estate signed a 2,600-apartment project in Khuzam worth more than 3 billion riyals ($800 million) in November 2025. Saudi developer Retal Urban Development Co. has committed 5.2 billion riyals ($1.39 billion) in Al Fursan.

In Riyadh, Addoha would work as a sub-developer, a different role from its African business, where it designs and markets its own programs.

Growth at home and in West Africa

Founded by Sefrioui in 1988, Addoha has delivered nearly 300,000 homes in Morocco. It has more than 23,000 units in production worth about 20 billion dirhams ($2.07 billion).

Consolidated net income rose 20% to 336 million dirhams ($34.7 million) in the first half of 2026, with 299 million dirhams ($30.9 million) attributable to the group. Revenue climbed 9% to 1.41 billion dirhams ($145.7 million). Presales not yet booked as revenue stood at 12.9 billion dirhams ($1.33 billion) as of Sept. 25, and gearing stayed below 32%.

The company operates in Ivory Coast, Senegal, Guinea and Gabon. It has an agreement with the Gabonese government to build 5,000 social homes over seven years, and the International Finance Corp. lent it $27 million for 5,600 affordable homes in Abidjan. West Africa accounted for 35% of the units in production at the end of June.

The Saudi approval follows a strong run in Addoha's shares, which jumped 13.5% last week on the Casablanca Stock Exchange.

Sefrioui, who controls Addoha, is one of Morocco's richest people. Forbes Middle East puts his fortune at $1.3 billion.

Figures were converted at MAD9.68 and 3.75 riyals to the dollar.