Speaking at the opening of a seminar on social and environmental safeguards that frame AfDB's operations in the Kingdom, Mikponhoue said that this joint event has strengthened "the excellent partnership that we have with our Moroccan partners" to further support this dynamic, by adopting the best practices in this area.

For his part, director of the Safeguards and Compliance Department at the African Development Bank Issa Maman-Sani stressed that it is necessary to consolidate the social and environmental monitoring of projects, in particular in this context of crisis.

"We share the same goal, that of helping to foster the bases of sustainable development beneficial to populations," he said, quoted in a statement from the Bank.

The discussions between the participants and the Bank experts were "interactive" and "fruitful". They allowed to meet the expectations of Moroccan public institutions which underlined "the need to further deepen the knowledge of safeguard mechanisms and tools" in order to "structure a new generation of projects prioritizing social and environmental dimensions, for the benefit of the populations", the statement said.

The Bank specialists, for their part, insisted on the importance of safeguards and their respective objectives, explaining that they help to better anticipate certain operational risks, while guaranteeing the environmental and social sustainability of the Bank's operations, which are the prerequisites for inclusive and sustainable growth.

They recalled the deployment of a set of instruments within the framework of the Integrated Safeguards System, with the goal of promoting the well-being of African populations, in line with the Bank's five strategic priorities.

They added that the total commitment of the African Development Bank in the Kingdom amounts to more than ten billion euros, covering the sectors of health, energy, water, transport, human development, agriculture and the financial sector.

Organized in partnership with the Moroccan authorities, from June 1 to 3, the main objective of this seminar is to strengthen the inclusion of social and environmental measures in the operational management of projects.