Marruecos y el Banco Mundial se reúnen para acordar varios proyectos
Aziz Akhannouch, Prime Minister of Morocco, has met in Rabat with Jesko Hentschel, the World Bank's director of operations for the Maghreb and Malta. The Alawi kingdom has presented to the representatives of the world banking institution a project that is currently under review by the Bank's Board of Directors. With this plan, the Alawi country would receive a large amount of money to try to solve some of the problems affecting the Moroccan population.
Hentschel, in a press release, commented that the meeting was mainly about the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and how it is affecting the Kingdom and the whole world. Energy prices, especially gas and oil, are seriously affecting Morocco, where several transport and automobile associations have already had to mobilise to ask the government for a solution. Even so, although some answers have been found, the Moroccan government has not been able to remedy the situation, since the prices that Russia is currently imposing for energy do not depend directly on them.
In addition, the measures Morocco wants to take to improve certain situations were discussed. As a result, a joint agreement was reached on a programme drawn up by the Bank and Morocco based on three main pillars.
The first pillar is dedicated to supporting the most vulnerable households and families in Moroccan society. These measures will focus on health and education services. People with a less stable economy have fewer resources when it comes to accessing a basic health system, so financial assistance would make a big difference. On the issue of education, many young people are forced to drop out of school in order to work and contribute financially to the household. It should be noted that in the more rural areas, this disadvantage is more widespread, so promoting education is one of the most important measures of the government.
The second pillar is dedicated to supporting the agricultural sector and rural areas. The Kingdom is currently experiencing one of the most severe droughts in decades. The Ministry of the Interior has had to activate the provincial commissions provided for in the Moroccan water law in cases of water shortages. These prohibitions seriously affect farmers, who, if they have no access to water, cannot irrigate their crops and therefore no harvest.
In addition, the war in Ukraine has had a major impact on wheat prices. Ukraine is a major importer of wheat, and the spike in prices is endangering the national economy.
The last major pillar of this project will seek to support the country's agricultural development strategy called "Green Generation". This is a new plan that has a roadmap extending to 2030 and aims to modernise Moroccan agriculture, as well as improve and develop the most rural areas. Given that agriculture is one of the foundations of the Kingdom's economy, the intention is to double the agricultural GDP, which would be able to alleviate some situations, such as the case of people at risk of poverty. Exports are also a focus, and Morocco wants to start exploiting this sector.
The World Bank also praised Morocco's management of its vaccination campaign, describing it as "exemplary management". The entity has shown its support for eradicating the pandemic and has provided technical and financial assistance to support projects related to ending the situation, as a priority.