EBRD: New strategy for Morocco 2022-2027

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is working on its new strategy for Morocco. It will focus on three or four key priorities defined in cooperation with the government and in consultation with the private sector. It is essentially to promote a more inclusive economy, especially for women, youth and very small companies, greener and more competitive via, in particular, the acceleration of digital transformation. "The new EBRD strategy for Morocco will cover the period 2022-2027. The Bank's Board of Directors is expected to approve it by the summer. It will be aligned with the objectives of the government's reform program and the orientations of the new development model," Antoine Sallé de Chou told "Le Matin" newspaper.
The EBRD director for Morocco was speaking on the sidelines of the 31st Annual Meeting of the European bank held from May 10 to 12 in Marrakech. According to Antoine Sallé de Chou, during the next five years, the EBRD also aims to maximize its financing in Morocco and exceed the annual average of between 200 and 300 million euros, except for 2020, when the EBRD had granted 742 million euros to the Kingdom to support its resilience to the crisis Covid-19. Note that "green, inclusive and digital" are the three main axes of the Strategic and Capital Framework 2021-25 of the EBRD: its plan to foster a robust recovery and accelerate reforms in all its regions of presence.

For the green axis, the focus of the new five-year strategy, the EBRD is stepping up its activities to promote low-carbon economies in its regions, increasing its financial support to help governments meet their commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement. In 2021, for the first time in the Bank's history, more than half of its annual investments were for the green transition (€5.4 billion out of a total of €10.4 billion). In Morocco, it has shown the same trend: out of 211 million euros invested in the Kingdom last year, more than half is in green financing. According to Odile Renaud-Basso, President of the EBRD, the Kingdom is one of the countries of operations with the most ambitious objectives in terms of combating climate change. It approaches the green transition in a particularly relevant way.

It approaches it as a way to address environmental challenges, as Morocco is particularly vulnerable to climate change and water stress. But it is also seen as an economic opportunity and an essential lever for competitiveness: a way to reduce costs, a way to ensure energy security and, in the future, a way to ensure Morocco's access to export markets. The EBRD's ambition is to continue to be a key partner in this area for Morocco. "Morocco's green energy potential also gives it a strategic advantage in terms of regional integration.

This is especially true at a time when geopolitics is pushing Europe to accelerate its energy transition. And with its abundant solar and wind resources, Morocco is today one of the best positioned countries in the green hydrogen revolution, a technology for which it could offer some of the lowest production costs in the world," says Odile Renaud-Basso. Regarding the second axis of the strategy (Inclusive), the EBRD aims to promote equal opportunities by improving access to skills, employment, finance and entrepreneurship, particularly for women, youth and other communities that cannot easily benefit from them.

In 2021, the total number of inclusive and/or gender-related projects increased by 103% to reach 146 projects in the countries of presence. In the digital area, the bank aims to respond to the need for countries to implement rapid technological change to help the economies in which it invests become more resilient and competitive.