MOROCCO – German development agency, KfW has given the Kingdom of Morocco a €30 million loan (about US$35.3 million) for projects that will improve water access in the Maghreb country’s rural areas.
The loan beneficiary Morocco’s Office national de l’électricité et de l’eau potable (Onee) plans to build small water pumping stations, reservoirs for storage, as well as pipelines for distribution.
At the moment, the capacities of the various installations have not yet been revealed, but construction work is expected to begin before the end of 2020.
KfW in a statement revealed that the funds advanced to the Moroccan government will also be used to finance consultancy services to support drinking water projects in 450 small villages in Morocco.
The works financed by the German development agency are part of the “Rural Water Supply Programme” currently underway in this North African kingdom.
The initiative aims to improve access to drinking water for 3,000 inhabitants in 450 small villages in the provinces of Tangier and Chefchaouen, and in other areas not yet connected to the water network.
A waste water disposal system will also be constructed in the concerned villages using KfW finances.
This necessary as that the lack of a functioning sanitation network and wastewater treatment system causes already scarce water resources to become contaminated and unsuitable for multipurpose use.
Morocco is one of the 36 countries facing “extremely high” levels of baseline water stress, with more than 80 percent of the water available to agricultural, domestic, and industrial users withdrawn annually.
Responding to the critical condition of water levels in Morocco, the government has taken all the necessary measures to ameliorate water supply distribution, through the projects like the construction of dams and regional drainage canals.
These measures also include maximum usage of water resources including surface water, the deepening of wells to increase water flows, and the organization of awareness campaigns to save water, with a view towards ending water deficiency.
These projects however require significant financial resources and Morocco has been partnering with KfW and other development institutions to secure water for its population.
Prior to the current partnership, The most recent partnership between Morocco and the German bank was in 2019 when KfW approved a 55.5 million euros intended for the construction of new drinking water installations which today serve 1.5 million people in the kingdom.
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