This partnership, which comes in the context of the Covid-19 crisis, has the main objective of supporting the improvement of the business environment in order to strengthen the Kingdom's resilience to the pandemic and promote the recovery of its economy, the AfDB said in a statement.

"Maintaining the momentum of reforms that improve the business climate in these times of crisis is a priority to protect entrepreneurship and preserve business growth," said Mohamed El Azizi, AfDB director general for North Africa, quoted in the statement.

This partnership, he added, is all the more important as it comes at a time when Morocco mobilizes all its forces to achieve a successful exit from the crisis.

This partnership will therefore help accelerate the implementation of measures to improve the business environment in Morocco. More generally, it will support the priority reform agenda in the economic and social fields, back its sectoral implementation, and strengthen monitoring mechanisms through a series of thematic workshops that will promote the sharing of experience and best practices.

The AfDB has supported Morocco in its response to the health crisis by providing more than €380 million through the Covid-19 Response Support Program (PARC-19) and additional funding for the Social Protection Improvement Support Program (PAAPS-FA Covid-19).

Morocco is one of the founding members of the AfDB in 1964. The Bank's commitment to Morocco amounts to more than €10 billion cumulatively, with financing covering various sectors, including health, energy, water, transport, human development, agriculture and the financial sector.