By Nibal Zgheib

EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso will pay her first official visit to Morocco on 24 and 25 May in virtual format, meeting with the government, private sector and civil society.

The President’s programme includes meetings with Head of Government, Saad Eddine El-Othmani , Minister of Economy, Finance and Administrative Reforms Mohammed Benchaaboun and EBRD Governor, Nasser Bourita, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Aziz Akhannouch, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests, Moulay Hafid Elalamy, Minister of Industry, Trade and Green and Digital Economy, and Governor of the Central Bank of Morocco, Abdellatif Jouahri,.

Speaking ahead of her meetings, President Renaud-Basso said: “The EBRD is committed to supporting Morocco’s economic recovery, regional integration and green economy potential and fostering equality of opportunities, in particular to address youth unemployment and gender issues. In 2020, the Bank stepped up its engagement in the country, leading to a record year of €750 million(US$912.86million) of investment.”

“We look forward to continuing to strengthen our partnership under a new country strategy to be prepared later this year, which will complement the post-Covid-19 economic recovery plan, as well as the new economic development model that Morocco is working on,” added the President.

The discussions will focus on the post-COVID-19 recovery and EBRD investment to support the country’s hardest-hit sectors, its economy and society to build back better in the years to come.

Morocco is a founding member of the EBRD and became a country of operations in 2012. To date, the Bank has invested more than €3 billion in Morocco through 73 projects and has three offices there, in Casablanca, Tangier and Agadir.