Morocco, World Bank Sign €236.7 Million Loan Agreement for North-East Project

Rabat – Morocco’s Minister of Economy and Finance Nadia Fettah and World Bank Vice President for the MENA region Ferid Belhaj signed on Monday a €236.7 million (MAD 2.5 billion) loan agreement to finance Morocco’s North-East Economic Development Project.

The project aims to stimulate economic growth and create job opportunities in the country’s North-East region, notably around the development of the Nador West Med (NWM) port complex.

Belhaj, who is currently on a two-day working visit to Morocco, described the meeting with Fettah as “very fruitful” on Twitter. The two officials discussed the World Bank’s support to Morocco, “especially on climate-related issues and the upcoming Annual Meetings in Marrakech,” he added.

Morocco’s red city, Marrakech, will host the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in October 2023.

The meeting saw the presence of Morocco’s minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development Leila Benali, World Bank Director for the Maghreb and Malta Jesko Hentschel, the Director of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for the Maghreb, Xavier Reille, as well as a delegation of several World Bank officials.

According to a press release from the Moroccan Ministry of Economy and Finance, the meeting was an opportunity for Fettah to extend her thanks to the World Bank for the “support and assistance, both financial and technical, that this institution provides” Morocco.

For his part, Belhaj “welcomed the excellent cooperation relations” between Morocco and the World Bank, highlighting the bank’s “readiness” to continue supporting the North African country’s economic and social development projects, added the statement.

During the meeting, the World Bank presented its report on climate development in Morocco, which was prepared in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development. The representatives of the three parties discussed the “main conclusions” of the report, the ministry’s statement noted.

In June, the World Bank highlighted the “substantial development challenges and opportunities” that Morocco’s North-East region faces, including “remoteness, natural disasters, and climate-linked events.” The bank stressed that they will support the NMW port complex project “so that territorial development can materialize.”