This new roadmap will serve the priorities of the Kingdom’s new development model (NMD) by 2035 and will contribute to strengthening the competitiveness and resilience of the Moroccan economy, the AfDB said in a press release published on the occasion of its 2024 Annual Meetings to be held from May 27 to 31 in Nairobi.
It is also about supporting strong and sustainable growth and consolidating the dynamics of economic and social inclusion, adds the same source.
“This new strategy sets the course, objectives and pace of our investments over the next five years in the Kingdom, our leading partner on the continent with more than 12 billion euros mobilized in strategic sectors,” explained Achraf Tarsim, the AfDB country manager for Morocco, quoted in the press release.
According to Mr. Tarsim, the Kingdom, a country that proves that with vision, capabilities and resources, emergence can become a reality, is a source of inspiration, noting that “with this new strategy, our ambition is to move to the next level to strengthen the excellent partnership that has united us for almost 60 years.”
This roadmap defines two priorities which consist of strengthening inclusive growth through the development of skills, employability and entrepreneurship and consolidating, through the deployment of sustainable infrastructure, the resilience of the economy to exogenous shocks.
According to the AfDB, this new DSP innovates in particular through its “water-energy” nexus approach which will make it possible to develop more integrated projects to alleviate water stress and support strong and inclusive growth.
The result of extensive consultations with public and private stakeholders, the new country strategy draws lessons from the previous CSP which helped to concretize the significant progress made by Morocco in terms of socio-economic development.
During the 2017-2023 period covered by the previous vision, the Bank mobilized nearly 3 billion euros. It was thus able to support Morocco’s efforts in strengthening access to drinking water and desalination, support the modernization of health infrastructure and the expansion of access to social coverage, and contribute to further developing road, port and airport transport, increasing inter-regional and global mobility while helping to accelerate the dynamics of advanced regionalization.
In terms of results for the period 2017-2023, the AfDB has contributed to securing access to drinking water for five million inhabitants and to extending health insurance coverage from 62% in 2017 to 100% in 2023.
More broadly, this vision has consolidated the Kingdom’s industrial base by supporting the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly in exports. It has contributed to increasing, through the development of renewable energies, the capacity for solar generation, thus guaranteeing the security of energy supply.
Morocco is a founding member of the AfDB. Since 1978, the Bank has invested more than 12 billion euros in nearly 190 projects.
Its active portfolio includes 40 operations totalling 3.5 billion euros in the health, water, agriculture, transport, energy and financial sectors.
The 2024 AfDB Annual Meetings, whose official opening ceremony is scheduled for next Wednesday, are being held under the theme “Africa’s Transformation, the African Development Bank Group and the Reform of the Global Financial Architecture”.
2024-09-24 10:07:29