Morocco: Ports Agency and French Development Agency Ratified a Loan of €10.8 Million
By Abdul Rahman Bangura–
NEW AFRICA DAILY NEWS (NADN) Freetown, Sierra Leone- The Moroccan Ports Agency (ANP) and the French Development Agency (AFD) on July 2nd, 2020 endorsed a loan partnership of €10.8 million (1.1 billion DH), correlated with a specialized subsidy grant of €813,000 (8.7 million D H). According to a joint press release, this new financial and technical assistance will strengthen the partnership connections between the organization and will facilitate improve the competitiveness of the ports managed by the National Agency, increase their resilience to the effects of climate change and strengthen their urban integration.
The release indicated that, the cooperation between ANP and AFD, launched in 2012 with the allotment of a €50 million loan and a €300,000 technical assistance grant by AFD, has today reached a new milestone marred by the enactment of a new €100 million euro financing package.
“Our 2018-2024 investment programme will enable us to consolidate the development and modernization of the port fabric in order to stimulate the socio-economic impact of the port areas on their hinterlands,” ANP Managing Director Nadia Laraki confirmed.
ANP conception through this programme “also integrates the dimension of sustainable development by notably making the opening of the ports to their cities a lever for the enhancement of port land, the development of urban spaces and the creation of new activities generating wealth and employment,” she expanded.
The challenge of this programme also bears on the promotion of ports that are more resilient to climate change, the release noted.
In this sense, AFD Director in Morocco Mihoub Mezouaghi stressed that “this new programme will aim to increase the resilience of port infrastructure and its adaptation to climate change through the reinforcement of structures and the protection of port infrastructure against sea level rise, the implementation of a carbon balance mechanism to improve energy efficiency and the prevention of marine pollution to preserve the biodiversity of the aquatic environment.”
For New Africa Daily News Abdul Rahman Bangura Reports, Africa Correspondent
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