The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the OCP Group have inked three loan agreements, totaling $188 million, in Rabat to fund the OCP Group’s Green Investment Program, focused on providing clean drinking water to surrounding towns through three new desalination plants.
The plants will have a total annual capacity of 110 million m3, to provide 75 million m3 of drinking water for the towns of Safi and El Jadida and the areas around the OCP Group’s Safi and Jorf plants where over 1.5 million people will benefit.
The first loan of $150 million and the second loan of $18 million from the African Development Bank and the Canada – African Development Bank Climate Fund (CACF) respectively, will be used to fund the construction of the new modular seawater desalination plants.
The third loan amounting to $20 million from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), will be dedicated to developing energy storage systems for renewable sources and supplying the desalination plants and other OCP Group production units.
The African Development Bank’s Country Office manager for Morocco, Achraf Tarsim, explained that this project is in response to the increase in hydric stress in Morocco, noting that the project will optimize water-resource management in industrial activities using desalinated seawater,
Karim Lotfi Senhadji, Finance Director of the OCP Group who noted that the loan represents a significant contribution to thier 2023-2027 investment program of $13 billion, said it aims achieve 100 percent unconventional water by 2024, 100 percent renewable energy by 2027, self-sufficiency in green ammonia by 2032, and full carbon neutrality by 2040.
On his part, Jean Touchette, adviser and head of cooperation at the Canadian Embassy in Morocco expressed delight that the fund is being deployed effectively in Morocco to contribute to the response to climate challenges.
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