Casablanca – The African Development Bank Group has solidified its commitment to supporting Morocco’s socioeconomic development with the approval of the nation’s national strategy for the period 2024-2029. This announcement, made during the bank’s 2024 annual meetings held in Nairobi, underscores a concerted effort to align with Morocco’s vision for significant progress by 2035.
Building on the foundation laid by previous strategies, the newly endorsed roadmap is tailored to enhance Morocco’s economic competitiveness and resilience while fostering inclusive growth across the kingdom. Ashraf Tarsim, the African Development Bank’s representative in Morocco, emphasized the importance of this strategic alignment, highlighting the substantial investment plans totaling over $13 billion earmarked for strategic sectors over the next five years. Tarsim further underscored Morocco’s pivotal role as a model for national progress, emphasizing the synergy between vision, capability, and resources in driving sustainable development.
The strategy’s core objectives revolve around fostering inclusive growth through initiatives focused on skill development, employability, and entrepreneurship, while simultaneously bolstering the economy’s resilience to external shocks through investments in sustainable infrastructure. Notably, the strategy incorporates innovative approaches to address critical challenges, such as the intersection of water and energy, aiming to implement integrated projects that mitigate water stress and promote robust, inclusive growth.
Crafted through extensive consultations with stakeholders from both the public and private sectors, the new strategy draws on valuable lessons gleaned from previous plans that significantly advanced Morocco’s social and economic landscape. The African Development Bank’s substantial investment of nearly $3.3 billion from 2017 to 2023 played a pivotal role in supporting various initiatives, including improving access to clean water, modernizing healthcare infrastructure, expanding social coverage, and enhancing transportation networks to facilitate regional and international connectivity.
During this period, the bank’s interventions were instrumental in providing clean water access to five million people and achieving universal health insurance coverage by 2023. Moreover, the strategy contributed to fortifying Morocco’s industrial sector, particularly in exports, and expanding solar energy capacity through renewable energy projects, thereby ensuring a reliable energy supply.
As a longstanding partner, Morocco has benefited significantly from the African Development Bank’s investments in approximately 190 projects since 1978. Presently, the bank’s investment portfolio in Morocco encompasses 40 operations valued at a total of $3 billion, reflecting a continued commitment to fostering sustainable socioeconomic progress in the kingdom.
