DR ‹ › The African Development Bank Group, through the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility, has granted $510,000 to the Electronic Payments Acceptance Development Fund established by Bank Al-Maghrib. According to a statement from the AfDB, the funding aims to support the large-scale expansion of digital payments, enhance financial inclusion, and help reduce the use of cash in Morocco. The grant complements the financial resources mobilized by Bank Al-Maghrib to launch the fund, whose objective is to encourage merchants to adopt electronic payment solutions, thereby reducing reliance on cash and supporting the transition toward a digital economy. The initiative falls within Morocco's Digital Payments Development Strategy, particularly its pillars related to payment promotion, transaction digitalization, and the reduction of cash usage. «This agreement will help expand access to financial services for both citizens and merchants, while strengthening the national payments ecosystem and laying the foundations for an inclusive and sustainable digital economy», said Achraf Tarsim. For his part, Abderrahim Bouazza, Director General of Bank Al-Maghrib, stressed that the fund represents a key lever for accelerating the adoption of electronic payments in Morocco. He added that the support of international partners, including the AfDB through ADFI, reinforces a national initiative aimed at promoting electronic payments in the service of economic and social inclusion. Launched in 2019 and hosted by the AfDB, ADFI seeks to accelerate the growth and use of digital financial services across Africa, with a particular focus on women. Its partners include the Agence française de développement, the AfDB Group, the Gates Foundation, Luxembourg, France, and India. Since 1978, the AfDB Group has mobilized nearly €15 billion to finance more than 150 projects and programs in Morocco across key sectors such as transport, social protection, water and sanitation, energy, agriculture, governance, and finance.
