The Moroccan government is expecting an annual loan package of $1 billion USD from the African Development Bank (AfDB) for major infrastructure projects over the next four years, according to Moroccan Finance Minister Nizar Baraka.
The funds will go toward drinking water, sanitation, irrigation, energy and food security projects.
Morocco has previously signed an agreement with the AFDB to receive annual loans of $650 million USD between 2012 and 2016.
Last year, the North African country received a total of $1.2 billion USD worth of loans from the bank for solar and wind power, agriculture and other electricity projects.
The water sector in Morocco is extremely vulnerable to the harmful effects of climate change. The AfDB will work together with the government to strengthen the synergy between the new water strategy formulated in 2009 and the Morocco Green Plan, launched in 2008, which provides the strategic framework for an aggressive policy on water resources conservation and sustainable water management.
The country’s goals for the water sector include increasing access to drinking water for the entire population, strengthening the sanitation sector, rationalizing irrigation water, and sustainability and security of existing infrastructure.
The deficit in Morocco’s state budget in the first quarter of this year amounted to 2.2 percent of the country’s GDP.
The government will seek the bank’s help in promoting sustainable water resources management, improving urban sanitation and wastewater treatment coverage, mitigating the effects of climate change on water resources, and increasing drinking water supply and sanitation access.
