Mr. Mohamed BENCHAABOUN, Minister of Economy and Finance, and Mr. Abdullatif Yusuf AL-HAMAD, Director General and President of the Managing Board of the the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), signed Wednesday, June 19th 2019 in Rabat, two financial agreements according to which this fund grants two loans with an overall amount of 2.27 billion Dirhams. The signing ceremony was attended by Mr. Abdelkader AMARA, Minister of Equipment, Transport, Logestics and Water.
The two signed agreements will contribute to the financing of the project of heightening Mohamed V dam in the Oriental Region and the project of the implementation of the expressway that will constitute a bypass of Laayoune city.
During this event, the Minister of Economy and Finance welcomed the AFESD continued assistance to the development projects initiated by Morocco, noting that the Fund is among the key partners of the Kingdom. In this respect, he stated that Morocco- AFESD partnership has lasted for almost more than four decades. He added that the first financing operation of the Fund to support Morocco dated from 1975. Since then, about 72 loan agreemnts were signed amounting to 4,4 billion dollars, in addition to 27 contributions of more than 19,4 million dollars.
The Minister further argued that these two programs are part of the Moroccan Government’s priorities as they are at the core of our country’s development policy in its two components on the rational management of water ressources on the one hand and the development of the Kingdom’s South provinces on the other.
In his speech, the Director General and the President of the Managing Board of the AFESD stressed that the first loan relates to a project aimed at strenghthening the storage capacity of Mohammed V dam while the second focuses on the implementation of Laayoune expressway. For him, this project is of particular importance in relation to the Maghreb Highway, funded to a large degree by AFESD. He further noted that the Fund aims to contribute in the future to financing more development projects in Morocco and welcomed the excellent relations that links AFESD and the Kingdom.
On the other hand, the Minister of Equipment, Transport, Logistics and Water indicated that these are two major projects that are part of Moroccan public policy on water supply and transport.
The project to heighten the Mohammed V dam will contribute to the improvement of the water regulation of the Oued Moulouya and will make up for the dam's low storage capacity due to the sediment accumulation at the bottom of its reservoir. This will ensure the drinking water supply and the development of agriculture in the area.
Concerning the Laayoune expressway project, it constitutes a link in the Tiznit - Laayoune - Dakhla road which is being implemented as part of the setting up of the development model of the Kingdom's South provinces.
This area which is the main road link between the North and the South of the Kingdom will reinforce the ties between Morocco and the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.