Inked in the presence of the French ambassador to Morocco, Hélène Le Gal, this new financial and technical assistance from AFD to ANP consolidates the relations of cooperation between these the two sides and will improve the competitiveness of the ports managed by the ANP to increase their resilience to the effects of climate change and strengthen their urban integration, the source pointed out.

According to the press release, the new loan strengthens economic cooperation between Morocco and France in the ports sector.

Quoted in the document, Le Gal underscored the importance of cooperation between Morocco and France in the port and maritime fields so as “to strengthen our commercial networks but also to combine our efforts to promote a blue and efficient economy that respects sustainable development."

In the same context, the press release notes that the financial and technical partnership between the ANP and AFD, triggered in 2012 by the AFD's granting to the ANP of a loan worth 50 million Euros and a technical assistance grant of 300,000 euros has just taken another important step today, marked by the implementation of new funding of 100 million euros.

“Our 2018-2024 investment program will consolidate the development and modernization of the port fabric in order to stimulate the socio-economic impact of port spaces on their hinterlands,” said Nadia Laraki, Director General of the ANP.

“Our vision through this program also integrates the dimension of sustainable development by making in particular the opening of ports on their cities a lever for the enhancement of port land, the development of urban spaces and the creation of new wealth-generating activities and jobs,” she added.

The challenge of this program also relates to the promotion of ports that are more resilient to climate change, the document noted.

In this regard, the Director of AFD in Morocco, Mihoub Mezouaghi, stressed that "this new program is intended to raise the resilience of port infrastructures and their adaptation to climate change through the strengthening of works and the protection of infrastructures in the face of rising sea levels, the implementation of a carbon balance system to improve energy efficiency and prevention of marine pollution to preserve the biodiversity of the aquatic environment”.