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Morocco World
12-05-2025
- Business
- Morocco World
AFD General Director: Morocco's Southern Provinces Deserve More Foreign Investment
Rabat – France Development Agency (AFD) General Director Remy Rioux has renewed the importance of Morocco's development projects in the country's southern provinces in Laayoune and Dakhla, noting that these regions deserve investment from development institutions like the French agency. 'These dynamics highlight the potential for regional cooperation,' he said, citing several sectors like the blue economy, port greening, renewable energies, job creation, and water and sanitation infrastructure. 'The AFD Group has expressed its readiness to ambitiously support sustainable and inclusive development in these regions for the benefit of their inhabitants,' Rioux said as he concluded his four-day visit to the region. The visit is the first mission by an AFD Director General to Morocco's southern provinces, AFD said in a statement, noting that Rioux held several meetings with senior officials from the government in Rabat as well as local administrations in southern provinces. He met in Rabat with Morocco's Minister of Economy Nadia Fettah Alaoui, Morocco's Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita, and Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit. 'These meetings reaffirmed AFD's support for Morocco's advanced regionalization,' AFD said. In addition to the government, Rioux also held talks with executives from several institutions, like Omar Lahlou, Governor of the Communal Infrastructure Fund, as well as the leadership of Morocco's fertilizer giant OCP. He further met with the executives from the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University-affiliated African Sustainable Agriculture Research Institute (ASARI), which specializes in sustainable agriculture, desertification control, and the development of the camel sector. 'Discussions with researchers and local actors emphasized the need to develop innovative solutions tailored to the region's fragile ecosystem, particularly in water management and sustainable agriculture.' Following several meetings with local officials in Dakhla, the French delegation visited major projects like the construction site of the major Dakhla Atlantic port and the ANP fishing port of the city. AFD's final statement on Rioux's delegation visit comes a few days after the French agency reaffirmed its commitment to making major investments of €150 million in Morocco's southern provinces. ' AFD Group will now invest in the southern regions by bringing in investments and financing,' Rioux told the press last week, noting that he was 'very impressed' by the investments and the quality of infrastructure the region has seen in recent years. AFD's interest in the region comes in line with France's newfound position, with Paris having recognized Morocco's sovereignty over its southern provinces.
Morocco World
11-05-2025
- Business
- Morocco World
Western Sahara: France's AFD to Invest €150 Million in Morocco's Southern Provinces
Rabat — France is committed to supporting Morocco's territorial integrity and sovereignty over its southern provinces in Western Sahara. France displayed this commitment through the latest announcement from the French Development Agency (AFD), which is planning to make major investments of €150 million in Morocco's southern provinces. The agency's Director General, Remy Rioux, announced the news from Laayoune during his visit to the region as part of the flurry of visits by French official delegations carried out since the country's newfound historic recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over its southern provinces in Western Sahara. 'The AFD Group will now invest in the southern regions by bringing in investments and financing,' Rioux told the press, noting that he is 'very impressed' by the investments and the quality of infrastructure that the region witnessed recently. He said this contributed to job creation to meet the expectations of youth in the region. The director also welcomed the presence of private companies and the establishment of industrial zones in the region, adding that AFD's investment in Laayoune Sakia El Hamra serves as a signal to encourage more economic stakeholders. France announced its recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over its southern provinces in July of last year in a letter Emmanuel Macron directed to King Mohammed VI. In the message, Macron informed the monarch that the present and future of Western Sahara lie within Morocco's sovereignty over its southern region. He also highlighted the importance of the Moroccan Autonomy Plan as the only feasible political solution to end the dispute. The letter was followed by a State visit by Macron in October of the same year, in which he publicly announced the European country's decision in the Moroccan parliament, noting that France's decision is hostile to nobody. His remarks came in response to Algeria's regime maneuvers and attempts lobbying against France's newfound position, as Algiers has been challenging Morocco's territorial integrity for years by harboring the Polisario Front and financing its hostile terrorist acts against Rabat and interfering in its domestic affairs. Since Macron visited Morocco, official delegations have visited the North African country, especially visiting the southern region for the first time in their capacity as French officials. The delegations that visited southern provinces included Minister of Culture Rachida Dati and Ambassador Christophe Lecourtier, among several others. The latest historic decision France took also includes expanding its consular services to Morocco's southern provinces, particularly to residents of Laayoune, Dakhla, and Es-Semara. This means that for the first time, residents of the region will be able to apply for French visas directly from their city. France confirmed the expansion of its visa services to the region during the official inauguration of a new TLS visa center, which handles consular applications, in Casablanca in April. Tags: AFD in MoroccoAfDB €117 million loan to Morocco
Egypt Independent
08-04-2025
- Business
- Egypt Independent
Egypt signs 9 financing agreements with French Development Agency at value of €262.3 mln
CAIRO, April 7 (MENA) – Egypt has signed nine financing agreements with the French Development Agency (AFD) on the sidelines of French President Emmanuel Macron's current high-level official visit to Cairo. Valued at a total of 262.3 million euros worth of loans and grants, the agreements signed reflect the strength and diversity of the long-standing partnership between Egypt and France. The signing ceremony was attended by Minister of Transport and Industry Kamel al-Wazir, Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation Rania al-Mashat, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mahmoud Esmat, Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities Sherif al-Sherbiny, as well as a number of French ministers. The agreements, which cover three top-priority sectors: transport, water, and energy, include high-impact projects that reflect the diversity of cooperation between Egypt and France. These projects constitute nearly half of the commitments included in the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) for the period 2021-2025. By leveraging the technical expertise and know-how of French companies, the AFD Group invests in projects with a tangible impact to achieve shared prosperity. Since 2006, the AFD Group has been a key player in France-Egypt cooperation. Its activities support economic, social, and environmental transformations in Egypt in line with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and Egypt Vision 2030. (MENA)
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
GEAPP & AFD Group Join Forces to Support Local Financial Institutions in Africa in Support of Mission 300
New initiative positions Africa's public and private development banks as strategic enablers of clean energy access The collaboration will bolster African financial institutions' ability to support clean energy projects by enhancing their technical and financial capacity, facilitating scalable investments in off-grid technologies and grid infrastructure. GEAPP and AFD Group's combined investments will support the localization of access to credit lines, accelerate project implementation, and mobilize additional resources from public, private, and philanthropic partners towards clean energy access financing. CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Feb. 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD Group) announced today at the Finance in Common Summit (FiCS) their commitment to work together to mobilize up to $5 million of technical assistance to elevate the role of local financial institutions in accelerating clean energy access in Africa. This collaboration will begin with a $1.3M pilot envelope of technical assistance grants from GEAPP, to be complemented with lines of credit from AFD Group. GEAPP and AFD Group's joint investments will direct both technical and financial support to private financial institutions and Public Development Banks (PDBs) in Africa. The initiative is a direct response to the growing momentum among partners supporting Mission 300, the World Bank and African development Bank's landmark ambition, to deliver affordable and sustainable electricity to 300 million people in Africa by 2030. This builds a critical foundation for crowding-in funding, resources, and tools from public, private, and philanthropic partners to scale up local and global cooperation. The collaboration is the latest example of how the GEAPP alliance is pooling resources to support catalytic financing for projects that strengthen local financial systems. By enhancing the capacity of African financial institutions at both the regional and national levels, the window will help those institutions become more capitalized and better positioned to deploy long-term and stable resources that are essential for scaling transformative energy technologies. These technologies, such as mini-grids, solar home systems, and grid upgrades, are pivotal in addressing the energy access gap across Africa. Mission 300 aims to empower economic growth and deliver electricity access to some of Africa's most vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities. While technical solutions such as off-grid technologies and national grid extensions are available, the critical barrier remains a lack of sufficient financing to scale these solutions effectively. Public and private financial institutions at the regional and national levels play a decisive role in unlocking these solutions, offering market-specific expertise, reducing exposure to foreign exchange volatility, and supporting innovative business models by providing much-needed capital and long-term resources. This AFD & GEAPP initiative will directly address this financing gap by equipping those African financial institutions with the necessary technical, financial, legal, environmental, and social support to strengthen their financial readiness, improve portfolio screening, enhance due diligence capabilities, and support the analysis of portfolio emissions. With these tools, PDBs will be better able to back bankable projects that generate sustainable development in the countries where they operate. AFD Group's long-term expertise towards public and private finance institutions is at the heart of this collaboration. Support to local financial systems to finance a climate resilient economy represent 25% of AFD Group activity worldwide. In particular, AFD Group has been a pioneer in supporting banks to finance energy access in Africa combining (i) financial approach to provide local partner banks with long-term loans and (ii) technical approach to support and boost the finance market for green investments. In particular, AFD Group successfully launched the Sunref program in 2006 to give companies and local banks the resources to seize opportunities out of the ecological transition (energy efficiency, renewable energy, etc.). AFD Group also launched in 2018 the TFSC (Transforming Financial Systems for Climate) program with the Green Climate Fund in 16 African countries aiming to support financial institutions in financing adaptation and mitigation projects, for a total amount of USD 650 M as of today. After announcing a EUR 1 bn commitment by 2030 in support of Mission 300 agenda in Dar es Salaam last month, this collaboration allows AFD Group to pursue its work in strengthening local financial systems while mobilizing key stakeholders on its side. "Through national PDBs and local private banks, we have a unique opportunity to accelerate energy access in Africa by strengthening the capacity of local financial institutions to participate in the objectives of Mission 300. Our partnership with GEAPP and this new initiative, leveraging both philanthropic and institutional funding, proves that FiCS is an ideal platform to support cross-fertilizing partnerships between public development banks and other stakeholders committed to sustainable solutions," said Rémy Rioux, Chief Executive Officer of AFD Group. "GEAPP is working with AFD Group to pool resources and invest in innovations that will help unlock more funding for Africa's energy access projects," said Woochong Um, Chief Executive Officer of GEAPP. "This is a demonstration of the power of radical collaboration to achieve the Mission 300 goal of connecting 300 million Africans by 2030 is driving us to uncover new solutions, extend the pipeline of commercially viable projects, and create jobs, skills, and better livelihoods in areas where electricity access remains a challenge." This initiative directly supports the goals of Mission 300, National Energy Compacts (NECs), and UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), which aims to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all. It will also help foster public-private-philanthropic partnerships, which are essential for project development in emerging markets, and will stimulate new value chains and cutting-edge technologies in the energy sector, including distributed renewable energy systems and electric cooking solutions. The collaboration between GEAPP and AFD Group highlights the strategic role that Africa's public and private financial institutions play in advancing renewable energy access across the continent. By leveraging local expertise, reducing foreign exchange exposure, and fostering innovation, this new collaboration aims to unlock significant financing for energy access solutions and contribute to achieving the broader goals of Mission 300, Agenda 2030, and SDG7. About Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP)The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) is an alliance of philanthropy, governments, technology, policy, and financing partners. Our common mission is to enable emerging and developed economies to shift to a clean energy, pro-growth model that accelerates universal energy access and inclusive economic growth while supporting the global community to meet critical climate goals during the next decade. As an Alliance, we aim to reduce 4 gigatons of future carbon emissions, expand clean energy access to one billion people, and enable 150 million new jobs. With philanthropic partners the IKEA Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation and Bezos Earth Fund, GEAPP works to build the enabling environment, capacity, and market conditions for private sector solutions, catalyze new business models through innovation and entrepreneurship, and deploy high-risk capital to encourage private sector solutions and assist just transition solutions. For more information, please visit and follow us on Twitter at @EnergyAlliance. About AFD GroupAFD Group finances and drives the transition to a fairer, safer and more resilient world, working with its partners to support communities all over the world. Drawing on the complementary strengths of its entities – Agence Française de Développement for public financing, Proparco for responsible private investment, and Expertise France for technical expertise – the Group is ideally positioned to meet all sustainable development challenges. Working in over 160 countries, including France's Overseas Territories and Departments, the Group adapts its operations to the realities on the ground, actively supporting local initiatives. With over 4,000 projects, whose objectives are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), AFD Group works on behalf of the French people, together with all stakeholders committed to economic development and the preservation of common goods: climate, biodiversity, peace, gender equality and global health. Working by your side, toward a world in common. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP)
