Highlights

Morocco and the ADB signed a loan agreement to support the financial sector`s development in Morocco.

28/11/2011
Morocco and the ADB signed a loan agreement to support the financial sector`s development in Morocco.

Morocco and the African Development Bank (ADB) signed, Wednesday, November 23rd 2011 in Tunis, a loan agreement of 224 million Euros (2.5 billion dirhams) to finance the 2nd phase of the financial sector development support program (PADESFI II).

"The aim of this loan is to improve the access of households, especially women, and businesses to credit, in order to improve the living standards of the population and to increase the economic competitiveness of Morocco," Mrs. Abu Zeid expressed during a press conference.

This program builds on the success of the first phase in 2009 and follows on from the series of four programs of adjustment of the financial sector (PASFI) supported by the Bank in the past. The program`s objective is to strengthen the financial sector development through reinforcing its governance and improving people and businesses access to financial services as well as diversifying the financial instruments.

The program will be beneficial for the private sector in general and Moroccan SMEs in particular, since it will help them to better access financial services, thereby supporting their expansion. "Despite a challenging international and regional environment, the Moroccan economy showed resilience and strength, » the manager expressed with satisfaction.

According to Mrs. Abu Zeid, the year 2011 was characterized by the approval of operations intended for the private and financial sector with a total amount of 404 million Euros. She specified that a third operation on renewable energy, for an indicative amount of € 373 million, is being finalized.

This operation also profits from a concessional loan of 125 million U.S dollars, which was approved, in November, by the Executive committee of the clean technology Fund (CTF).

"The ADB is the Kingdom`s first partner for development," she stated, describing this partnership as being "extremely privileged" and expressing the wish to strengthen it further. The PADESFI Il meets the strategic objectives of the Kingdom, particularly in the fields of improving governance and business environment.

The Commitments relating to the Bank`s portfolio of active operations in Morocco exceed 2.5 billion Euros (more than 27 billion dirhams). This active portfolio comprises the operations of the infrastructure, transport, energy, water and sanitation sector (80%), the governance sector (14%) and the social sector (6%).

Since the beginning of its operations in the Kingdom, the cumulative commitments of the Bank Group amounted to nearly 9 billion Euros for 115 operations.

This agreement was signed by the Ambassador of Morocco inTunisia, Mr.Najib Zerouali Ouariti, and the ADB Vice-President, Mr. Aloysius Uche Ordu.