The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has approved €149 million in financing to implement the PAGCS (Programme d’appui à la généralisation de la couverture sociale pour une meilleure employabilité – Phase II).
A press release from the financial institution states that this project, which forms part of Morocco’s ongoing consolidation of the foundations of the social state, will benefit self-employed workers, self-employed entrepreneurs, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, start-ups and cooperative structures throughout the country.
It aims to facilitate the transition from the informal sector to the formal economy and encourage the creation of sustainable jobs, adds the ADB, which specifies that the PAGCS has two components, the first focusing on extending social protection and promoting sustainable employment, and the second on support for achieving universal health coverage.
The expected results relate to job creation for people who lost their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic, and who have difficulty accessing the job market – women and beneficiaries of vocational training in particular.
This operation also aims to increase basic medical coverage to 90% of the population by 2025 (compared with 74.2% in 2021), and to adopt a legal corpus that reorganizes healthcare provision with strengthened governance of the sector, in order to meet the growing health needs of populations in both urban and rural areas.
At the same time, the AfDB points out that the combined effects of the health crisis and inflationary pressures have highlighted the urgent need to strengthen social and economic inclusion, in particular through entrepreneurship.
In 2021, Morocco launched a vast social protection project, gradually extending medical and pension coverage to several trades, mostly informal, in order to facilitate the transition from the informal sector to the formal economy. In addition, the government had set up programs to support the integration of people who had lost their jobs as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The PAGCS thus adopts an integrated approach to the issues of employment, social protection and health. By improving people’s employability and the conditions for job creation, the program will help promote social and territorial cohesion. The PAGCS was developed in coordination with technical and financial partners, and in complementarity with Morocco’s other employment and health policies.
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