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Rabat – The French Development Agency (AFD) recently expressed its determination to strengthen cooperation with Morocco’s fertilizer giant OCP in the field of applied research, particularly in agriculture.
AFD’s Director General Rémy Rioux announced the news during his visit to Laayoune on Saturday, recalling the signing of a major financing agreement concerning the decarbonization of OCP’s value chain.
In April of last year, the two parties announced a commitment to deepen ties as well as to the decarbonization of Morocco’s economy and to food security in Africa.
Last year, OCP said that both parties share the same vision for a sustainable global future, noting that decarbonization is a central pillar of AFD’s 2022-2026 strategy in Morocco.
“In this context, AFD and OCP Group are considering a loan of up to 350 million euros to OCP Group,” the statement said, noting that the loan seeks to target the development of green hydrogen and ammonia as well as renewable energies.
The loan also targets the training of human capital as part of OCP’s green investment program spanning 2023 to 2027.
“This green program foresees an overall investment of USD 13 billion to enable the Group to use 100% nonconventional water in 2024 (to ensure its complete autonomy, including a water desalination capacity of 50 million m3 per year by 2026),” OCP’s April statement added.
During the visit on Saturday, AFD attended presentations of the regional development program and municipal development plan as part of various projects included in the new development model for the southern provinces that King Mohammed VI launched in 2015.
As part of the AFD delegation’s visit to Laayoune, the agency also announced plans to make major investments of 150 million euros in Morocco’s southern provinces.
The investment is part of France’s historic recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over its southern provinces in Western Sahara.
