AIIB Grants Morocco $200 Million Loan to Boost Climate Resilience
Marrakech, The Gulf Observer: The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will provide Morocco with a $200 million loan to strengthen the country’s resilience to climate change, the Chinese Embassy in Morocco announced on Tuesday.
The financing will support priority projects aimed at reinforcing environmental and water infrastructure and improving the resilience of economic sectors most vulnerable to climate risks. The initiative is part of a co-financing program with the World Bank, which has already committed $350 million through its Results-Based Financing mechanism.
Morocco is among the countries most exposed to climate change impacts. According to a World Bank report published in September 2024, the country has experienced an average temperature increase of 0.2°C per decade since the 1960s—double the global average. This accelerated warming has fueled more frequent and severe extreme weather events, including heatwaves, droughts, and floods.
The AIIB funding aligns with Morocco’s commitments under its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement, ratified in 2016. The program will focus on two strategic pillars. The first involves developing climate infrastructure, notably the acquisition of all-weather meteorological radars to improve real-time forecasting, risk management, and environmental monitoring.
The second pillar seeks to enhance the resilience of oasis ecosystems by supporting agricultural cooperatives, strengthening the date palm sector, and planting climate-resilient species such as argan, cactus, carob, olive, almond, and caper plants. It will also finance the rehabilitation of traditional hydraulic systems.
Several national entities will participate in the program, including the Agricultural Development Agency (ADA), the National Agency for the Development of Oasis Zones and Argan (ANDZOA), the General Directorate of Meteorology (DGM), the Directorate of Irrigation and Agricultural Space Management (DIAEA), and the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA). The financing is expected to generate joint benefits in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening rural value chains, creating green jobs, and consolidating institutional coordination in climate finance and risk management.
Morocco, which joined the AIIB in 2019, is one of 110 members of the China-initiated multilateral lender, which was established in 2015 as an alternative to Western-dominated financial institutions. Nineteen African nations are among its members.
The total implementation of Morocco’s NDC program is estimated at $900 million, with contributions of $200 million from the AIIB, $350 million from the World Bank, and $350 million from the Moroccan state. In June 2021, Morocco updated its NDC, raising its greenhouse gas reduction target to 45.5% by 2030, of which 18.3% is unconditional.
