Mr. Salaheddine MEZOUAR, Minister of Economy and Finance, and Mr. Thierry DE LONGUEMAR, ADB Vice-President, signed on Monday April 7th ,2008 on the MEF premises a loan agreement to fund the construction of a thermo-solar power plant in Ain Beni Mathar.
In this ceremony, Mr. MEZOUAR praised the exceptional partnership relations between Morocco and the ADB and stated that such relations, recently strengthened, made ADB one of the most important financial sponsors of Morocco.
On this occasion, Mr. MEZOUAR indicated that this project, launched by His Majesty the King of Morocco, is regarded as a major step in the implementation of the energy strategy put in place by the Kingdom of Morocco. Moreover, he underlined that the government considers this project as one of its strategic priorities.
Mr. MEZOUAR also expressed Morocco`s expectations from its cooperation with the ADB. He requested from ADB, the first development bank in the continent, to improve its competitiveness, its line management and reinforce its assistance to the private sector, a priority for the Moroccan government. Mr. Thierry DELONGUMAR, for his part, underlined the outstanding relations between the ADB and the Moroccan government, and reiterated ADB`s commitment to backing up the Moroccan government`s actions. Mr. Younes Maamar, General Director of ONE the National Electricity Office extended his thanks to the ADB for its commitment in assisting the development process in the kingdom. He then reviewed the major projects financed by ADB in Morocco, illustrating, with figures, the considerable impact of Ain Beni Mathar thermo-solar plant on the energy sector in Morocco.
Then, Mr. MEZOUAR, Mr. LONGUMAR and M. MAAMAR, proceeded to the signing of the loan agreement between ADB and ONE as well the Guarantee agreement between ADB and the Moroccan government for the above mentioned project. This loan of Euro 151.4 million is granted by the ADB to the ONE as a complement to an initial loan of Euro 136.45 million, following an increase in the project`s production capacity from 250 MW to 450-470 MW. The project aims at diversifying energy sources and securing electricity supply in Morocco. It also targets meeting the increasing demand in electric energy and sustaining the country`s economic growth and its corporations` competitiveness.