The European Investment Bank (BEI) has granted a 2.6 billion dirham loan (250 million Euros) to Morocco for the financing of highway projects in the country.
The loan is dedicated to a three-lane construction of the 57-km highway between Casablanca and Rabat as well as the construction of a 41-km bypass road in Rabat ; and large scale projects on the key highway in Morocco.
The contribution of the European Bank accounts for nearly half of the overall cost of both projects launched in summer.
The BEI granted 540 million euros to Morocco in 2009 against 270 million in 2008, which is a record, according to experts.
During the past decade, Morocco seems to have been set to take up the infrastructural challenge in the construction of highways, considering the undoubted socio-economic shortfalls on a country seeking to reach a steady annual growth of about six percent.
In 2009, Morocco had almost 1,000 kilometers of highways, with the prospect of exceeding 1,800 kilometers in 2015.
More than 36 billion dirham ($5 billion) will be pumped from 2008 to 2015 to achieve the highway program in Morocco.
A new extension program was launched in July 2008 for an overall cost of 15 billion dirham ($2 billion) to be allocated in 2015.
Some 571 kilometers of highway are under construction until 2010, targeting the 250-km section from central Marrakedh to south-eastern Agadir and another 300-km track linking north-eastern Fez to eastern Oujda.
Source African Press Agency
