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Rabat – Morocco received a loan of EUR 80 million from the French Development Agency (AFD) to fund the last segment of the Tangier-Casablanca high-speed train (TGV) project, reported Maghreb Arab Press (MAP).
The loan was signed in Rabat between the National Railway Board (ONCF) and AFD at a ceremony chaired by Mohammed Boussaid, Minister of Economy and Finance, and Jean-Yves Le Drian, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
The new loan will make it possible to complete the financing of the project, which has “generated a slight additional cost,” reported MAP.
Le Drian said that “the loan is the fruit of a partnership based on trust between the two countries and their companies.” The foreign minister added that this contribution is “the sign of collaboration and a joint acting will on equipment, which is a determining factor for the future of Morocco.”
Boussaid said that “the implementation of this financing brings AFD’s contribution to more than EUR 300 and that of France to more than EUR 1 billion, which is more than 50 percent of the financing of this project.”
He added that the TGV project is supported by King Mohammed VI, explaining that “it is one of the flagship achievements of our bilateral relationship.” Mohammed Rabie Khlie, ONCF’s Director General, said that the TGV project is “on the right track.” He added that works on the infrastructure, rails and electrical cables were completed.
“We are testing 110 kilometers to reach the speed of 320 kilometers per hour by the end of this week.
Khlie continued that the overall work will be completed before the end of 2017, and that the first four months of 2018 will be devoted to testing the TGV.
In 2011, the AFD granted an initial sum of EUR 220 million to the ONCF for the establishment of the TGV project. The TGV was originally scheduled to be finished in 2015, but it was recently postponed to late 2017.
