Morocco: African Development Bank approves nearly 245 million euros to develop electricity and rural electrification networks

AfDB NEWS & EVENTS 

11-Dec-2019

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank today approved financing of around 245 million euros for the National Office for Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) to carry out its program of development of electricity transmission and rural electrification networks.

"This is a strategic program for Morocco. An operation of primary importance for the Bank. "Said Mohamed El Azizi, Managing Director of the Bank for the North Africa region. "Developing an even more reliable electricity transmission network will enable the kingdom to meet energy demand, growing at an average rate of around 5% over the last decade. This is a dynamic that will encourage an even greener energy mix. " he added.

The program will thus contribute to increasing the transit capacity of the national interconnected electricity transmission network. Its strategic objective is to improve the security and efficiency of the supply of electrical energy as well as the overall technical performance of the national electrical system.

It will also guarantee the insertion of the additional electric production which will be generated by the means of production of solar and wind sources under development, and the routing of this clean energy towards all the consumption zones.

“This new operation is a concrete response which contributes to the fight against the effects of climate change. Its inclusive dimension is just as important: more than 16,000 households in 720 villages will be connected to the electricity grid and will see their living conditions improve. ", Leila Farah Mokaddem, Country Manager of the Bank for Morocco, rejoiced.

Aligned with the Bank's strategic priorities, the program meets the two objectives of "Enlighten Africa" ​​and "Improve the quality of life of the people". It is also in line with the priorities of Morocco's new National Energy Strategy, which aims to develop an energy mix, 42% of which is based on renewable energies in 2020 and 52% by 2030.

Since the beginning of its operations in Morocco in 1970, the Bank has financed 18 investment operations in the energy sector for a total amount of more than 1.5 billion euros.

The partnership between Morocco and the African Development Bank has lasted for more than half a century and covers different strategic sectors, notably transport, energy, water and sanitation, agriculture and social development.