World Bank Director of Operations to Visit Morocco Ahead of COP 27

Rabat – The World Bank’s Managing Director of Operations Axel Van Trotsenburg is set to visit Morocco on November 2-4 to discuss the country’s climate initiatives ahead of COP 27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

The visit reiterates the bank’s partnership with Morocco which aims to “achieve better development outcomes for all citizens, particularly in face of climate change,” the World Bank (WB) stated in a press release cited by Morocco’s Press Agency (MAP).

This is Van Trotsenburg’s first official visit to Morocco as WB’s Managing Director of Operations. He will be accompanied by the World Bank’s Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa Ferid Belhaj, and Director for the Maghreb and Malta Jesko Hentschel.

The visit is an opportunity for the WB officials to meet with senior government officials as well as representatives from the private sector and civil society organizations in Morocco.

On November 3, Van Trotsenburg is expected to launch the Morocco Climate and Development Report (CDDR) at Rabat International University (UIR).

The report assists Morocco’s climate and development challenges and provides a set of recommendations that could help the country achieve its climate and economic development objectives.

“The launch of the CCDR, just before COP27, sends a strong signal that climate and development can be integrated into ways that support a country’s growth priorities,” Van Trotsenburg said in a press release, adding that the World Bank Group is “pleased to support [Morocco’s] climate action.”

WB currently operates 24 projects in Morocco with a total budget of $6.6 billion (MAD 72 billion). The projects cover a variety of socio-economic initiatives aiming to advance nationwide development while addressing or mitigating the effects of climate change on the country’s economy particularly in the agriculture sector.

In June, the bank approved a $500 million (MAD 5.4 billion) “climate resilience” loan to alleviate climate risks on vulnerable populations and expand health coverage for all citizens in Morocco.