Rabat – The Fez-Meknes Regional Council has allocated a budget of MAD 1.1 billion ($119 million) for road upgrade and construction projects in rural areas, 2M reported today.
The projects are part of the council’s 2016-2020 program for the fight against territorial and social disparities in Fez-Meknes.
The program includes 231 projects with an overall budget of MAD 1.7 billion ($184 million).
In addition to rural roads, the program focuses on connecting rural towns with drinking water and electricity, with budgets of MAD 380 million ($41 million) and MAD 160 million ($17 million), respectively.
The program also allocates over MAD 48 million ($5 million) to support the health and education sectors.
The Fez-Meknes Regional Council is covering the investment costs of 167 projects, with a total budget exceeding MAD 1 billion ($109 million). The budget covered by the council represents 65.52% of the development program’s costs.
Meanwhile, Moroccan ministries and local authorities are mobilizing the remainder of the budget, approximately MAD 640 million ($69 million).
Future projects
At the end of the 2016-2020 program, the Fez-Meknes Regional Council is set to launch new development projects with a total budget of MAD 11.19 billion ($1.21 billion).
The council signed a contract relating to the financing of the future investments in July in a meeting chaired by the Wali (governor) of Fez-Meknes, Said Zniber.
The contract between the Moroccan government and the regional council identified 97 different projects in Fez-Meknes.
The projects relate to the sectors of industry and digitization, equipment and logistics, higher education, agriculture, job promotion, handicrafts, and social economy.
Equipment and logistics projects will have the highest budget, with MAD 3.18 billion ($345 million), followed by higher education (MAD 1.85 billion, $201 million), and industry (MAD 1.06 billion, $115 million).
