The EU releases €1.6 billion to support the green and digital transition in Morocco

MOROCCO / EU. As part of its new Global Gateway strategy launched on 1 December 2021, the European Union will invest €1.6 billion in Morocco. This envelope will make it possible to support the green and digital transition in Morocco. On Wednesday 9 February 2022 in Rabat, Ursula von der Leyen underlined the historic links between the EU and this country by addressing Aziz Akhannouch, the new head of the Moroccan government, on his first official visit since taking office. "If we talk about economy and trade, it is important to underline that Morocco is the first partner of the European Union on the whole African continent (Editor's note: The EU represents 66% of its total trade in 2020). But beyond the economy, it is above all a question of personal links, of Europeans living in Morocco and Moroccans in Europe, of our cultures which have influenced and enriched each other for centuries.

According to the President of the European Commission, "it is with all this in mind that I can reaffirm our willingness to continue to deepen our relations - as neighbours, as partners, as friends." Since October 2008, Morocco has had an advanced status with the EU. 

The €1.6 billion announced will enable "major projects to be carried out together, for the benefit of Moroccans (...) This is a great opportunity for the green and digital transition", emphasised Ursula von der Leyen.

Morocco plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 45.5% by 2030 and by 2025 wants more than 52% of its installed electricity capacity to be provided by renewable energy.

Running from 2021 to 2027, the Global Gateway initiative (rival to China's Belt and Road, formerly the New Silk Road, launched in 2013) is a programme for the connectivity of goods, people and services through "smart, clean and secure investments in quality infrastructure", as its promoter puts it.

Through this strategy, the European Commission intends to better connect EU countries to the world by investing up to €300 billion of public and private funds, especially in the neighbourhood countries (Western Balkans) and on the African continent.

This sum will go to projects linked to sustainable development in the digital, climate, energy, transport, health, education and research sectors, "taking into account the interests of the EU and the needs of its partners", says the European Commission.

Global Gateway relies on funding from the EU and its Member States, as well as from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The aim is also to mobilise the private sector for these investments "to achieve a transformational impact", as the European Commission states.

Morocco is the first country to benefit from this programme covering both tangible and intangible infrastructure.