US $12.1m has been granted to Morocco by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Chinese fund Africa Growing Together Funds (AGTF) to secure and ensure sustainable access to drinking water in the country.
The AfDB and the AGTF, signed the loan agreement with the Moroccan National Office for Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) to to fund the project, in bid to improve access to drinking water in Morocco.
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Access to safe drinking water in rural areas
The project is set to benefit over 2.5m Moroccans which is an estimated figure which is expected to rise to 3.3m by 2040. The rate of access to safe drinking water in rural Morocco was 96% in 2018 where the authorities aim to reach 100% in the coming years.
The AfDB will provide a loan worth US$8.3m while the Chinese fund, Africa Growing Together Funds (AGTF) will provide US$5.5m. The funding will help finance a programme to ensure the sustainability and security of access to water in the country. The works concern the supply of raw water from the “Ghriss” dam to the Al Hoceima treatment plant and the supply of water from the Ibn Battouta dam to the Mharhar treatment plant (Tangier). The programme will also strengthen the water treatment capacity of the Beni Mellal region, the production of water in the Zagora region from the “Agdez” dam, and the production of water in the Guercif region (from the “Targa or Madi” dam).
A credit agreement worth US $5.2m was also signed by Morocco and the French Development Agency (AFD), last year which was granted to ONEE so as to improve and expand the quality of drinking water service in the north of Morocco. The project will help benefit nearly 300, 000 Moroccans. Morocco also took another loan with the German Public Development Bank (KfW) worth US $70m which is expected to help finance three drinking water supply projects in the country.
