Germany’s KfW lends Morocco €30 mln for water projects

German development bank KfW offered a €30 million loan to Morocco’s water and electricity agency (ONEE) to finance water supply projects in rural areas.

The new funds will be directed in particular to implement water supply projects in the northern regions of Tangier and Chefchaouen.

Some 150 small villages and 112,000 people stand to benefit from this financing.

Morocco has launched a seven-year plan to secure water supply with a particular focus on rural areas.

As part of this program, Morocco approved in late 2019 a 12 billion dirham plan to build three dams to reinforce water supply in the northern region of Tangier-Tetouan-Alhoceima.

The plan, dubbed Beni Mansour water complex, is part of the national 2019-2026 strategy presented in April 2019 before King Mohammed VI.

The dams will meet the needs of Tangier and Oujda in the east.

Morocco has 145 large dams and 250 small ones and expects 20 more dams between 2020 and 2027.

Since his accession to the throne in 1999, King Mohammed VI has consolidated the policy led by late King Hassan II to provide the Kingdom with water infrastructure through dams of different sizes.