The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has approved financing of 120 million euros (M€) to finance the development project of the Nador West Med Port Activity Zone (PAZAP-NWM).
The project aims to boost value chains, especially export chains, in order to support the Kingdom of Morocco in the transformation of its economic model, improve the business climate and generate significant investments that will stimulate the social and economic development of the Oriental Region, ADB said in a press release. It is also a question of creating more than 30,000 jobs in the long term by increasing the volume of trade and other related activities in the Oriental Region, especially the Nador province, the same source adds.
The NWD industrial port complex is positioned as part of Morocco’s port strategy. By 2030, this regional vision aims to strengthen the port system’s integration into the regional transportation network, strengthen the competitiveness of the entire port logistics chain to create value and local jobs, and, therefore, accelerate economic and social development in the Eastern Region.
With this in mind, in 2015 ADB approved initial financing of €112.8 million to contribute to the NWM construction project.
Seven years later, in 2022, this first project benefited from additional funding of €57 million in response to the economic impacts of the health crisis.
In the logic of integrated development, the Bank also approved financing of €200 million for the construction of the Guercif-Nador highway in 2023 and to strengthen the attractiveness and logistical competitiveness of the Oriental region.
This financing aims to help connect the future Nador West Med port to Morocco’s motorway network. With the new €120 million project to develop the port activity area, the Bank’s total contribution to this integrated multimodal programme will reach approximately €490 million.
LNT with MAP
For further
