COVID-19: AfDB supports Morocco with €264Mln Financing

The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved on Wednesday in Abidjan a €264 million financing to Morocco, as part of its COVID-19 response support program (Parc-19).

With a rapid deployment of resources, PARC-19 contributes to bolster the Kingdom’s response efforts to the health, economic and social crisis triggered by the Covid-19 epidemic, the AfDB said in a press release.

“Faced with this unprecedented situation, we are doing everything in our power to support Morocco to curb the spread of the virus and cushion up its economic and social repercussions,” said Mohamed El Azizi, AfDB Director General for North Africa, explaining that through PARC-19, the bank’s assistance is based on a multidimensional and targeted approach.

In order to protect the population, the primary objective of the program is to help stop the spread of the virus and further improve the effectiveness of the authorities’ health response, in addition to increasing the number of facilities authorized to carry out tests, the press release said.

The second objective of this operation is intended to help preserve the purchasing power of Moroccans. In this perspective, the program will help public financial support measures, which benefit employees in the formal and informal sectors during the lockdown period, said the AfDB.

It will thus beef up the government’s efforts to provide support to 4.3 million households in the informal sector as well as 800,000 employees affiliated to the National Social Security Fund (CNSS), the release said.

In order to preserve jobs and promote economic recovery, PARC-19 will facilitate access to financing for self-employed entrepreneurs and strengthen very small, small and medium-sized enterprises. The expected result is to preserve 75% of jobs impacted by the crisis.