Morocco, WB Ink Three Financing Agreements Totaling $800 Mln

Minister of Economy, Finance and Administration Reform, Mohamed Benchaaboun, and World Bank Maghreb Country Director, Jesko Hentschel, signed, Tuesday in Rabat, three financing agreements totaling $800 million.

The agreements, inked in the presence of Minister of National Education, Vocational Training, Higher Education and Scientific Research, Said Amzazi, touch on social protection (400 million dollars), the “Green Generation” program ($250 Mln) and the programming and modernization of urban transport ($150Mln).

In a statement to the press on the sidelines of the signing ceremony, Benchaâboun said that these agreements fall within the framework of a global vision of a programming which was established over 5 years with the World Bank group and which involves the support of public policies and the monitoring of government priorities in all areas.

The social protection program, he went on, is a major project that will be initiated this year with several reforms, adding that the Generation Green constitutes for its part a new strategic program for the agricultural sector which aims to eventually create a middle class in the rural world.

For his part, Hentscel noted that the agreement on social protection makes it possible to support the Kingdom’s efforts in the management of the crisis and especially the “Tadamon” operation, carried out at the start of the pandemic, and which enabled to support several households that do not have formal social security coverage. “It is one of the most innovative programs worldwide as beneficiaries register via cell phones,” he said.

This funding will also help support the “Tayssir” program in the coming years, Hentscel said, noting that this program is of major importance so that children can continue their studies at school, remotely or in person. 

The second agreement concerns urban mobility, notably through investments in transportation and new infrastructure (corridors for public buses), he said, specifying that the third agreement aims to support the “Generation Green” program, especially through the training of young people in the rural world and climate-smart technologies.