Climate Change Adaptation: Morocco’s OCP gets $18 Mln loan from Canada–AfDB for desalination projects

The Canada–African Development Bank Climate Fund (CACF) provides Moroccan OCP group a $18 million concessional loan to support the construction of three seawater desalination plants.

In a press release issued Tuesday, CACF said the funding is destined to advance Morocco’s climate adaptation efforts as the projects will enable the North African Kingdom to produce and sell 105 million cubic meters of potable water to around 1.5 million people in the Atlantic coastal cities and vicinity of Safi and El Jadida.

Within the frame of its green investment strategy, OCP Group has pledged to supply all its industrial facilities with green energy by 2027 using wind, solar, hydroelectric and co-generation sources.

Zero-emission energy will not only strengthen OCP’s competitive advantages but will also power new seawater desalination plants to meet the Group’s needs as well as supply drinking water and irrigation to areas bordering OCP sites. In this respect, the Group pledges to supply drinking water to the cities of Safi and El Jadida.

The Canada – African Development Bank Climate Fund (CACF) is a Special Fund established in 2021 and structured as a blended climate change facility including an Investment Facility aimed at extending concessional loans to eligible climate change projects plus a Technical Assistance Facility that seeks to address the increased complexity, coordination requirements and reporting obligations related to climate change projects.

The objective of CACF is to extend large-scale, long-term concessional loans to climate mitigation and adaptation projects that embed gender equality principles throughout the various phases of the project cycle, particularly the empowerment of women and girls.