The African Development Bank mobilizes 264 million euros to support Morocco in its response to the Covid-19 pandemic

The African Development Bank mobilizes 264 million euros to support Morocco in its response to the Covid-19 pandemic The Bank's commitment to Morocco amounts to more than 10 billion euros with financing covering different sectors.   

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (http://www.AfDB.org) approved Wednesday, May 27 in Abidjan, financing of 264 million euros for Morocco as part of its program support for Covid-19's response (PARC-19). With a rapid deployment of resources, PARC-19 contributes to the Kingdom’s response efforts to the health, economic and social crisis triggered by the Covid-19 epidemic.  

"Faced with this unprecedented situation, we are doing everything in our power to support Morocco to contain the spread of the virus and to mitigate its economic and social consequences," said Mohamed El Azizi, Managing Director of the Bank for North Africa. . "With PARC-19, we do this through a multidimensional and targeted approach," he said. In order to protect the population, the primary objective of the program is to help limit the spread of the virus and further improve the effectiveness of the authorities' health response. 

Thus, it will contribute to the increase in the number of hospital centers authorized to carry out virological screening. 

 The second objective of this operation is to help preserve the purchasing power of Moroccans. In this perspective, the program will support public financial support measures, which benefit employees in the formal and informal sectors during periods of confinement. It will also support government efforts to support 4.3 million households in the informal sector as well as 800,000 employees affiliated to the National Social Security Fund (CNSS).   

 "This new program will restore the country's fiscal space, preserve the conditions for growth, support the MSMEs and help the most vulnerable populations," said Leila Farah Mokaddem, the responsible- African Development Bank country for Morocco. The Kingdom of Morocco was one of the founding members of the Bank in 1964. The Bank's commitment to Morocco amounted to more than 10 billion euros with funding covering different sectors, including health, energy, transport, human development, agriculture and the financial sector.

Cassien Tribunal Aungane