Morocco’s development model is based on renewable energies

Many years before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Morocco has adopted an inclusive development model based on renewable energies and a sustainable vision, said Chief of the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN), Mustapha Bakkoury.

In an Op-Ed published by “the Parliament Magazine”, Bakkoury said despite Morocco’s swift and exceptional management of the pandemic, the global health crisis affected the country’s economy.

However, Morocco has major assets which enable the North African Kingdom to mitigate and overcome the Covid-19 crisis, added Bakkoury, highlighting in this regard the Moroccan energy strategy which aims at developing renewable energies, supporting energy efficiency and achieving a minimum 52 pc renewables energy mix by 2030.

Renewable energy can play a key role in both South-South cooperation and Africa’s sustainable economic recovery, underlined the director of MASEN. He cited in this regard his appointment by the African Development Bank as Chair of the steering committee of the ‘Desert to Power’ initiative, which aims to generate 10 GW solar capacity across 11 Sahel region countries.

For its part, the Islamic Development Bank has teamed up with Morocco in a strategic partnership to support African member countries to enhance their renewable energy capacity, said Mr. Bakkoury.

He also recalled the recent launch by the UN of an international Coalition based on South-South cooperation, led by Morocco and aimed at strengthening access to sustainable energy in the least developed and developing countries.

The European Union now views a trilateral EU-Morocco-Africa cooperation as an essential element of the Morocco-EU Green Deal currently being finalized, underlined Head of MASEN.