The French Development Agency (AFD) will begin investing in the Sahara, announced its CEO, Rémy Rioux, who plans to visit the Kingdom's southern provinces. «The AFD Group will invest in the Sahara, a link between Morocco and its neighboring countries. I will soon visit Laayoune and Dakhla to meet with the local population», Rioux told MAP, emphasizing that this decision aligns with AFD's «all-Africa» approach, which it shares with Morocco. «We share an all-Africa approach to promote regional cooperation», the AFD CEO said, highlighting Morocco's influence in Africa as a «driving force» for supporting ongoing transitions across the continent. He pointed to several areas of collaboration, including strengthening port cooperation in the Atlantic space, Morocco's leadership in advancing a sustainable blue economy, food security through the Agrifinance platform led by OCP Group and supported by AFD, and museum partnerships with the National Foundation of Museums to promote cultural exchanges with African countries. Rioux also mentioned other areas of cooperation, such as sports and professional training, where Morocco has played a pioneering role and initiated innovative projects in several African countries. To support the enhanced partnership between Morocco and France, the AFD CEO noted that President Emmanuel Macron's recent state visit to the Kingdom reaffirmed «our commitment to write together, and for the next 30 years, the new chapter in ties between the two countries, investing in the sustainable development of the Kingdom's entire territory, exchanging development experiences, and joining forces across the African continent». For AFD, this ambition has led to six declarations of intent with the Moroccan government, totaling over €900 million over the next five years in a co-investment approach. «In line with the initiatives promoted by Moroccan authorities, our Group will notably directly support the Casablanca-Settat and Guelmim-Oued-Noun regions to contribute to their inclusive and sustainable development», he said. Rioux added that AFD will strengthen its efforts in partnership with OCP, with which it has signed an agreement to support the decarbonization and resilience of both Morocco's and Africa's economies. Highlighting priority sectors for the Moroccan-French partnership, Rioux cited natural resource preservation as one of the major challenges for Morocco and many countries in the coming years. In this regard, he said that addressing water scarcity will be central to the Group's efforts, alongside support for the national water strategy. «We will also extend our support for sustainable forest management in new areas, such as the Toubkal massif, and continue to promote sustainable and resilient agriculture», he added. The socio-economic inclusion of youth and women is also a priority for AFD's work with Morocco, particularly in supporting the Kingdom's major social reforms. Another priority is to aid economic recovery through private investment and entrepreneurial initiatives. All AFD components—AFD, Proparco, Expertise France, alongside STOA and Bpifrance—are joining forces with the Mohammed VI Fund for Investment to create the «Morocco-France Investment Accelerator». «Finally, the energy transition remains a key priority of our partnership, with ongoing support for research and development in emerging technologies like green hydrogen and sustainable mobility», he concluded. Morocco is the AFD Group's leading partner globally. Over the past 30 years, the Group has invested more than €7 billion to support the reforms and innovative projects led by Moroccan public and private stakeholders.
