Fes, Morocco, December 17, 2020—IFC signed an agreement today to help Morocco’s Fes-Meknès region, an important economic center, improve roads in remote communities and limit the spread of COVID-19.
IFC will provide the region
with $30 million in financing to support the its long-term plan to expand and upgrade
its rural road network, reducing regional inequalities and helping people in
remote communities access jobs and social services.
The financing package will
also provide municipalities in the Fes-Meknès region with funds to purchase disinfection
and sterilization equipment, which will be used to sanitize public places.
“It is undeniably thanks to
the knowledge of Moroccan realities by the IFC team and its listening skills
that we were able to reach this happy conclusion,” said Mohand Laenser, the
President of the Regional Council of Fes-Meknès.
The partnership with
Fes-Meknès follows an agreement earlier this year that saw IFC provide $100
million in infrastructure-related financing to the Casablanca-Settat region. The
pioneering initiative marked the first time a subnational government raised
commercial financing without a sovereign guarantee, which is financing backed
by a national government. This opened doors for other regions and municipalities
to do the same and is expected to help Morocco realize its ambitious
decentralization agenda.
“We are helping the region of Fes-Meknès use
innovative financing mechanisms to meet its development needs and fight the
COVID-19 pandemic,” said Xavier Reille, IFC’s Country Manager for Morocco,
Tunisia, and Algeria. “Good infrastructure that connects people to markets is essential,
particularly amid the recovery from COVID-19.”
IFC’s investment is
accompanied by an advisory services project designed to support the region as
it expands and upgrades its rural roads, ensuring they follow international
standards for quality while minimizing their impact on the environment.
These advisory services are being
delivered as part of IFC’s MENA Cities Initiative and
in partnership with the Government of Japan, the Swiss
State Secretariat of Economic Affairs, the Federal Ministry of Finance of
Austria, and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the
Netherlands.
IFC’s support to the region of
Fes-Meknès is part of a broader World Bank Group effort to support regional
development and decentralization in Morocco. IFC has been present in Morocco since
1963 and has been at the forefront of innovation, facilitating the country’s
first public-private partnership for infrastructure development, among other
highlights.
About IFC
IFC—a member of the World Bank Group—is the
largest global development institution focused on the private sector in
emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital,
expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing
countries. In fiscal year 2020, we
invested $22 billion in
private companies and financial institutions in developing countries,
leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost
shared prosperity. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
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