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Morocco World
13-05-2025
- Business
- Morocco World
Green Investment Program: AFD, OCP Sign €350 Million Financing Agreement
Rabat – France Development Agency (AFD) and Morocco's fertilizer giant OCP are cementing their partnership through the signing of a €350 million financing agreement to support the Moroccan group's ambitious green investment program. OCP's investment program has a total value of $13 billion, covering the period of 2023-2027. The program seeks to increase OCP's fertilizer production capacity while also taking into account the group's commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. The primary goal of OCP is to supply all its industrial facilities with green energy by 2027, produced through wind, solar, hydroelectric, and cogeneration sources. A statement from OCP on Monday doubled down on their ambition to use 100% clean energy by 2027 through the program, and to fully cover its industrial water needs with non-conventional sources. '[The program] also aims to increase the group's capacity to produce decarbonized fertilizers, notably by integrating green ammonia, to progressively reduce its carbon footprint and achieve carbon neutrality across its entire value chain by 2040,' the statement said. The same initiative also aims to benefit farmers, particularly in Africa, by providing them with green fertilizers to contribute to their yield growth. These fertilizers are customized to serve farmers' needs depending on local crops, climates, and soils. According to OCP, the fund from AFD will be 'disbursed based on the achievement of performance indicators, focusing on increasing production capacity for clean energy and non-conventional water, developing green hydrogen and green ammonia production, and integrating climate and biodiversity indicators to OCP's risk management processes.' OCP also recalled an agreement it signed with AFD recently, for the multi-stakeholder platform dubbed 'Mobilizing for Agricultural Value Chains in Africa', led by INNOVX. 'The platform aims to mobilize and structure financing mechanisms for agricultural value chains in Africa and to strengthen food production and distribution systems by supporting innovative initiatives and start-ups across the continent,' OCP concluded. The signing of the agreement comes during an AFD delegation's high-level visit to Morocco. AFD General Director Remy Rioux is leading the delegation, which is engaging in discussions between the agency and senior officials and representatives from different institutions to cement cooperation at all levels. As part of the visit, AFD pledged €150 million investment plan in Morocco's southern provinces in Laayoune and Dakhla. The pledges align with France's newfound position, recognizing Morocco's sovereignty over its southern provinces in the Western Sahara. Tags: AFDMorocco's OCP Group
TimesLIVE
13-05-2025
- Business
- TimesLIVE
French development agency to invest in Morocco-ruled Western Sahara
The French Development Agency (AFD) says it will invest €150m (R3.05bn) in Western Sahara in 2025-2026, following Paris's recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over the disputed desert territory. The long-frozen conflict, dating back to 1975, pits Morocco, which considers the territory as its own, against the Algeria-backed Polisario front, which seeks an independent state called the Sahrawi Republic in Western Sahara. The investment was announced on Monday following a visit to the Moroccan capital Rabat and to Western Sahara by AFD chief Remy Rioux, who met members of the cabinet and local officials, AFD said in a statement. The funds will be directed at environmental and water supply projects among other social and economic development programmes, it said. French President Emmanuel Macron has backed Morocco's sovereignty over the North African territory and supported its autonomy plan as the only solution to the conflict.
Straits Times
13-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
French development agency to invest in Morocco-ruled Western Sahara
RABAT - The French Development Agency (AFD) said it would invest 150 million euros ($167 million) in Western Sahara in 2025-2026, following Paris' recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over the disputed desert territory. The long-frozen conflict, dating back to 1975, pits Morocco, which considers the territory as its own, against the Algeria-backed Polisario front, which seeks an independent state called the Sahrawi Republic in Western Sahara. The investment was announced on Monday following a visit to the Moroccan capital Rabat and to Western Sahara by AFD chief Remy Rioux, who met members of the cabinet and local officials, AFD said in a statement. The funds will be directed at environmental and water supply projects among other social and economic development programmes, it said. French President Emmanuel Macron has backed Morocco's sovereignty over the North African territory and supported its autonomy plan as the only solution to the conflict. He paid a visit to Rabat in October during which deals worth over $10 billion were signed. France said it will also open a cultural centre and a consular service to process visa applications from the territory. Relations between France and Algeria worsened after Macron's support for Rabat's position on Western Sahara. Since 2020, Morocco has won backing from the U.S. and the territory's former colonial power Spain, as well as Israel and more than two dozen African and Arab nations. The UN Security Council has been calling in recent resolutions on the parties to negotiate a "political" and "mutually acceptable" solution to the conflict. The Polisario withdrew from a U.N.-brokered truce but the conflict remains of low intensity. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
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.
The Sun
11-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
France pledges $168m investment in Morocco-claimed W.Sahara
RABAT: The state-run French Development Agency (AFD) will invest $168-million in the largely Moroccan-controlled but disputed territory of Western Sahara, the agency's chief said Saturday. 'The AFD group will now invest in the southern regions and provide investments and financing,' AFD chief executive Remy Rioux said in a statement carried by official Moroccan news agency MAP during a visit to the territory. Western Sahara, a mineral-rich former Spanish colony, is largely controlled by Morocco but has been claimed for decades by the pro-independence Polisario Front, which is backed by Algeria. The United Nations considers Western Sahara a 'non-self-governing territory'. A UN peacekeeping mission based there since 1991 has the stated aim of organising a referendum on the territory's future. But Rabat has repeatedly ruled out any vote where independence is an option, instead proposing an autonomy plan. France's stance on Western Sahara has been ambiguous in recent years, often straining ties with Morocco. But last year, French President Emmanuel Macron said Morocco's autonomy plan was the 'only basis' to resolve the conflict. France's diplomatic turnabout had been awaited by Rabat, after the United States recognised Moroccan claims over Western Sahara in return for the kingdom normalising ties with Israel in 2020. The shift drew criticism from Algiers, which cut diplomatic ties with Morocco in 2021.
