The IMF and World Bank confirm they will hold their annual meetings in Morocco despite the earthquake

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) have announced that they will hold their annual meetings in Marrakech between 9 and 15 October, as planned, despite the recent earthquake that killed approximately 3,000 people.

According to a statement issued by World Bank President Ajay Banga, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and Morocco's Minister of Economy and Finance Nadia Fattah Alaoui, these meetings "will provide an opportunity for the international community to support Morocco" and its people in the aftermath of the earthquake. 

Moreover, as Georgieva told Reuters, Morocco's Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch assured her that it would be "quite devastating" for the hotel sector to move the meetings to a different location. This important industry for the Moroccan economy, which is still struggling to fully recover from the pandemic, has now also experienced a significant number of booking cancellations in the aftermath of the quake.

Since the earthquake, which has particularly affected the rural areas of the Atlas Mountains, experts from the two international economic agencies have worked in close coordination with the Moroccan authorities to develop a comprehensive assessment of Marrakech's capacity to host meetings. Recently, Abdellatif Jouahri, governor of Morocco's Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM), confirmed that the meetings in the Moroccan city would go ahead as previously encouraged.  

According to the statement, "two basic considerations were taken into account: that the meetings would not hinder vital relief and reconstruction efforts, and the possibility of ensuring the safety of the participants". "Based on a careful review of the results, the senior management of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Moroccan authorities decided to go ahead with the annual meetings in Marrakech by adapting the content of the meetings in light of the current circumstances," the official note adds. 

This event will bring together representatives of the 190 member states of these two international institutions, including leaders from the public sector - central banks, ministries of finance and politicians - and the private sector, as well as representatives of civil society organisations and academic experts. This is also the first time in 50 years that these meetings have been held on the African continent.  

In addition to confirming the meetings in Marrakech, the IMF has announced that it will grant Morocco a $1.3 billion loan to address the impact and consequences of climate change, according to the Moroccan news agency MAP.

The North African country is one of the nations that suffers the most from this scourge. In particular, drought is one of the main challenges facing the Kingdom. For this reason, the authorities have approved and promoted numerous initiatives to combat this problem, which has repercussions on several sectors, especially agriculture.