Rabat – The African Development Bank (AfDB) has 35 projects in Morocco for a total investment of about $3 billion so far in 2019, making the country AfDB’s top recipient, according to Maghreb Arab Press (MAP).
AfDB’s funding in Morocco focused on the sectors of energy (31.5%), transportation (19.8%), water and sanitation (15.5%), and multi-sectoral and social development operations (12.7%). Some investment (11.2%) also went to the private sector and to agriculture (9.4%), according to the latest synthetic review of the bank’s results, unveiled Thursday, September 26, in Rabat.
On a scale of 1 to 4, the performance of the bank’s portfolio in Morocco is “very satisfactory,” progressing from 2.6 in 2009 to 3.7 in 2018. The score improved because there are no high-risk projects, said Rudolphe Petras, senior results specialist at AfDB, who presented the review.
The amount of annually approved funding increased from €607 million in 2009 to €733 million in 2018, Petras added.
The official highlighted the progress Morocco made from 2009 to 2018 and the bank’s contribution to that progress. Petras stressed that 16 million people got better access to transportation infrastructure, and the loans connected 6.9 million people to the electrical grid for the first time.
He added that about 8.5 million people, including 4.5 million women, got access to better health services. And 3.5 million people, over half of them are women, benefited from improved access to drinking water and sanitation.
The review underlined Morocco’s significant progress in the areas of governance, business climate, and gender equality. It also approved of Morocco’s leading Africa in renewable energy and the fight against climate change.
The AfDB has a mission of improving lives by fighting poverty and investing in socio-economic projects. The bank has been present in Morocco since 1970. The first projects it financed were to develop potable water and sanitation in 1978.
Between 1978 and 2017, the AfDB approved 160 operations for a total of $10 billion, according to AfDB.
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