By Sana Elouazi
Rabat – Morocco will receive nearly MAD 217 million (approximately USD 24 million) from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to support small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs), the bank announced Tuesday.
The EBRD said in a statement that the loan will be granted in two equal tranches to the Moroccan branch of the Spanish bank CaixaBank-Maroc (CBM) to improve its balance-sheet maturity and strengthen its capacity to finance SMEs.
“We are pleased to partner with CaixaBank, to provide this much-needed funding in local currency. SMEs are the backbone of the Moroccan economy and supporting them will increase employment in the country and contribute to economic growth.” said Alain Pilloux, the EBRD Vice President for Banking.
Ignacio Pino, the Country Manager of CBM in Morocco, stressed the importance of this loan, which he said will enable Moroccan SMEs to be adequately funded.“[This is] the first time we have partnered on such projects in Morocco and we expect it will set the way to a long lasting cooperation between our institutions.”
Morocco is a founding member of the EBRD. In 2012, it became a country of operations, and has benefited so far from around EUR 1.2 billion of investment from the institution, injected into 30 projects across the country.
