The African Development Bank's regional representative in Morocco, Ashraf Tarsim, has announced that the organization's commitments have reached a record level of approximately €1.3 billion for the year 2025. This significant financial commitment underscores the deep strategic partnership between Morocco and the bank, reflecting their mutual desire to support the structural transformation of the Moroccan economy.
Tarsim indicated in a press statement that a substantial portion of these commitments, amounting to €420 million, is earmarked for infrastructure and connectivity projects. Notably, €270 million has been mobilized for the modernization of airports in Marrakech, Agadir, Tangier, and Fez. This initiative particularly focuses on expanding terminal facilities, constructing a new control tower at Marrakech Airport, improving transit pathways, and implementing advanced security technologies and baggage handling systems.
Furthermore, he mentioned that an additional financing package of €150 million has been allocated to the Collective Equipment Fund, aimed at sustainably enhancing the investment capacities of local communities and supporting integrated territorial development programs. These financial provisions are designed to encompass essential services such as potable water, wastewater management, educational infrastructure, transportation, and public amenities, while systematically incorporating standards for climate resilience and environmental sustainability.
Tarsim also highlighted the bank's interventions in governance and economic resilience, revealing that a financial envelope of €182 million has been mobilized to bolster economic governance and the water and energy sectors, as well as to enhance capacity to withstand external shocks. On another front, he pointed out that €119 million has been designated to support entrepreneurship and the development of very small, small, and medium-sized enterprises, with the aim of stimulating job creation and boosting the competitiveness of the national economic fabric.
Additionally, a funding of €100 million has been mobilized to promote inclusive and solidarity-based agriculture, supporting entrepreneurship for women and youth in rural areas, modernizing agricultural infrastructure, and improving access to financing. Regarding new operations recently approved by the bank, Tarsim clarified that the board of the African Development Bank has recently sanctioned a financing package of €200 million for the "Competencies 2030" program, which aims to enhance the employability of youth and women while better aligning skills with the needs of the economy.
This program, according to Tarsim, adopts an integrated approach that combines skill development, strengthening professional integration mechanisms, and accelerating the digital transformation of the training sector. In the realm of green transition, the bank representative noted the signing of a partial loan guarantee of €450 million for the Office Chérifien des Phosphates group, a mechanism that will enable mobilizing up to €530 million in green financing from international partners. This initiative will accompany the implementation of the investment program of the Office Chérifien des Phosphates group, which aims to establish a low-carbon industrial model based on renewable energies, sustainable water management, and resilient agricultural practices.
As reported by iktissadkom.ma.
