Morocco: Total Investment in Urban Development Exceeded $7.6.bln over Last Ten years

State-owned real-estate developer, Al Omrane, announced that it had spent over $7.6 billion (72.5 billion dirhams) on urban development projects in Morocco over the last ten years.

Head of the board of directors of the company, Badr Kanouni, said, at a ceremony marking the tenth anniversary of the group, that 465,000 housing units were achieved out of 490,000 that were planned in the last decade. These units benefited 1.5 million slum dwellers, he added.

Over the same period, the group launched an urban upgrading program aimed at developing marginalized neighborhoods benefiting 5 million inhabitants.

Housing demand in Morocco has been increasing by 150,000 units every year, while annual housing production is only around 100,000 units.

To bridge the gap between housing demand and offer, the government announced a plan to build 800,000 housing units by 2022.