Marrakech readies for IMF-WB meetings

Marrakech, the Red city, has been well-prepared to host the IMF-World Bank annual meetings, a few weeks after a devastating earthquake killed some 3000 people.

The city was spared the severe damage suffered in the Atlas Mountains where whole villages have been wiped out.

Moroccans raced the clock removing the rubble and making a facelift to the centuries-old city which is now ready to welcome at least 12,000 visitors during the IMF-World Bank event.

The venue of the meetings was ready on September 25. The giant structures could be seen in Bab Ighli where Morocco hosted the UN climate summit in 2016.

As Morocco was preparing to deliver the site to the IMF and the World Bank on time as agreed, authorities gave priority to relief efforts, finance minister Nadia Fettah Alaoui said, stressing that the holding of the event is not hindering relief efforts.

The event is a chance for the quake-battered tourist industry to reassure visitors as to the safety of Morocco’s largest tourist hub Marrakech.

The IMF-World bank meetings also coincide with the designation of Morocco-Spain-Portugal as hosts of the 2030 World Cup, confirming once more Morocco’s standing among “great nations,” as the King said.

As was the case with the UN climate summit Cop 22, Morocco will make Africa’s voice heard by campaigning for more concessional development funding, Alaoui said.

The meetings are particularly important as they take place in a context of geopolitical divergences and challenges facing global south development.

Attention will be geared to climate finance as well as the reform of the Bretton Woods institutions in terms of funding sustainable development.