Green Finance: $200 Mln Chinese loan for Morocco’s climate resilience
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved a $200 million loan to support Morocco’s resilience efforts to mitigate the social and economic impacts of climate change.
The loan is part of a co-financing programme with the World Bank, which has already committed $350 million. The funding will enable Morocco cut greenhouse emissions, carry out environment protection projects and enhance water infrastructure and resilience of economic sectors affected by global warming.
The program will focus on two strategic pillars. The first is strengthening climate-related infrastructure, including the acquisition of all-weather meteorological radars to improve real-time forecasting, risk management, and environmental monitoring.
The second pillar will target the resilience of oasis ecosystems by supporting agricultural cooperatives, bolstering the date palm sector, and introducing climate-resilient species such as argan, cactus, carob, olive, almond, and caper.
The program, involving several national institutions, will also fund the restoration of traditional hydraulic systems.
The program is expected to generate joint benefits, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening rural value chains, creating green jobs, and consolidating institutional coordination in climate finance and risk management.
This funding comes as Morocco is among the countries most exposed to the impacts of climate change, with rising temperatures causing more frequent and severe extreme weather events, including heatwaves, droughts, and floods.
Prolonged hot periods and water scarcity affect almost every aspect of Morocco’s socioeconomic future, with the most devastating impact in rural areas, jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions of rural households and deteriorating vital ecosystems (such as forests and oases) and lower-income families, women, youth, and rural populations are disproportionally exposed to climate-induced shocks.
Morocco joined the Beijing-based AIIB in 2019. This financial institution funds infrastructure projects in 110 regional and non-regional member countries, including 19 from Africa.