North Africa is one of the most important regions for the European Investment Bank’s financing outside the EU, and one where it sees great potential for funding sustainable development.
In this special podcast supported by the European Investment Bank from Marrakech, which is hosting the World Bank and IMF annual meetings, Ricardo Mourinho, the EIB vice-president responsible for Morocco and Tunisia, explores the Bank’s activities in the region.
Its presence there is longstanding – in Morocco it has invested €10bn since 1979. The EIB’s involvement is also deepening, with recent investments spanning renewable energy, water, sanitation, education and health. In the immediate aftermath of the September earthquake, the EIB first worked with the Moroccan authorities to repurpose existing investments, and then pledged €1bn to the reconstruction programme.
Longer term, climate change is a serious challenge for the region – the need to manage water carefully is becoming a key priority, as is sustainable transport. Mourinho emphasises that “the future is green”, so the EIB will not fund projects that are not Paris Agreement-aligned.