EIB offers financing for upgrading water and sanitation networks in Morocco

European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a finance contract for €75m with Office National de l’électricité et de l’eau potable (ONEE) to increase water production capacity and improve distribution and sanitation networks in Morocco.

The deal is in line with priorities under the European Union’s external mandate and Morocco’s 2012-2016 national strategy which intends to offer the country residents fair access to basic services and modernise priority infrastructure.

EIB vice-president Román Escolano said: "Access to good quality water is essential to the economic and social life of a country. It is a source of life and an asset that must be preserved at all costs.

"That is why it is essential to provide every municipality with modern, efficient, environmentally friendly infrastructure that can support economic activity while improving people’s quality of life."

Growing population and economic activities have lead to increasing water demands in the African nation.

This EIB financing is expected to support multiple small-scale schemes, which are aimed at improving the performance and reliability of the water network in the country.

The schemes will renovate and optimise water production, distribution and sanitation infrastructure throughout Morocco, as well as bringing down its water losses.

These operations are likely to have significant social and environmental impact on the municipalities, causing improvement to public health, betterment of the quality of potable water supply and sanitation services, reduction in wastewater discharges, increasing resistance of the infrastructure to climate change and optimisation of water resources.

EIB has invested around €6.7bn for Morocco’s development related projects across sectors such as energy, transport, water and sanitation, health and education, social housing, industry, SMEs and innovation.

Dutch utility Vitens has recently received a €150m loan from EIB which is aimed to upgrade its water purification facilities, production locations and distribution networks.