ADB supports the acceleration of the development of Public-Private Partnerships in Morocco

1. ADB: well-structured approach and strategic support to Morocco  
2. Morocco assesses progress and prepares for challenges 

Morocco is counting on the support of the African Development Bank (ADB) to accelerate the development and promotion of Public-Private Partnerships.  

The objective of this technical assistance is to support the implementation of the new regulatory framework in this field by strengthening the capacities of the National Commission for Public-Private Partnerships (CNPPP) in order to help it carry out its tasks. 

Thanks to the launch of the programme to support the promotion of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in Morocco, this technical assistance aims to support the implementation of the new legal framework for PPPs and to further develop their use to finance, build and operate infrastructure for the provision of public services. 

ADB: well-structured approach and strategic support to Morocco  

At the request of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, ADB is about to approve a technical assistance programme dedicated to PPPs.    

This is a 24-month project with a budget of some 312,358 dollars, 85% of which will be financed by an ADB grant through the Technical Assistance Fund for Middle Income Countries, while 15% will be financed by the Moroccan government. 

This initiative aims to strengthen the capacities of the National Commission for Public-Private Partnerships, which is in charge of implementing the new legal framework introduced through the recent revisions of Law 46-18. This broadens the scope of PPPs for local authorities and simplifies certain procedures, such as unsolicited bids and award procedures.  

The suggested technical assistance seeks to encourage better planning and more efficient management of PPP projects, integrating them into the country's sectoral and budgetary strategies. In view of the well-structured approach of such an ADB technical assistance programme, the initiative contains two main components plus a complementary one:  

1. Developing a national PPP strategy, aligned with the New Development Model launched by the Kingdom and sectoral priorities; taking into consideration the principles of fiscal sustainability and key social sectors such as education and health. 
2. Establish an annual or multi-annual programme of PPP projects, which will give greater visibility to the available opportunities; developing a special platform to list eligible projects and define the criteria for assessing their relevance. This programme will be prepared by the CNPPP in collaboration with an international consultant.  
3. Training and awareness-raising to strengthen the skills of the teams in charge of PPP projects, on the one hand, and to encourage public and private actors to sign up to the programme through targeted communication campaigns, on the other. 

Morocco assesses progress and prepares for challenges 

Over the past 25 years, Morocco has made massive investments in infrastructure; building ports, led by Tangier Med, motorways, airports, high-speed lines, renewable energy facilities, among other giant projects, and avant-garde reforms launched by the North African country.   

Morocco, in this sense, is assessing its achievements and identifying the obstacles that hinder the Moroccan kingdom's path towards sustainable development and the social state, as desired objectives of the current government based on national strategies launched in the vital sectors of the Moroccan economy.

Faced with the ambition of reaching two-thirds of investments coming from the private sector as opposed to one-third from the public sector by 2035, Morocco is facing several structural challenges in terms of investments, financing and monitoring; in addition to the repercussions of the current international geopolitical landscape.  

In this context, the use of the PPP model remains insufficient, despite its potential to cushion pressure on public finances and optimise infrastructure management. Only a few emblematic projects have been realised under this type of partnership, namely the Ouarzazate solar complex, the Tarfaya wind farms and the Rabat-Salé tramway.   

However, strategic sectors such as water and energy continue to generate more and more needs for the country, which represents a major challenge that requires the intervention of a Public-Private Partnership to remedy the pressure on water resources.  

Added to this is the major constraint on agricultural and tourism activities, which requires massive investments. And given that the state budget has difficulties in covering them, this challenge can only be met by fulfilling these conditions: 

• Create a favourable environment for the development of PPPs.  
• Ensure efficient strategic planning.  
• Implement consolidated governance. 
• Carry out better project evaluation.