France Pledges €100 Million for Moroccan Ports, but Project Funding Totals €117 Million
France has announced a new €100 million loan to Morocco to modernize its ports. However, French Development Agency financing documents show a total of €117 million. The additional €17 million comes from two other international contributions.
On November 3, 2026, in Rabat, the French Development Agency (AFD) and Morocco’s National Ports Agency (ANP) formalized their third joint financing agreement, worth €100 million. The document was signed by Mustapha Farès, director general of the ANP, and Catherine Bonnaud, the AFD’s director in Morocco. But the overall project funding listed in transparency data published by the French agency amounts to €117 million.
The difference appears in the official ANP 3 program record, registered under reference FR-3-CMA1365. In addition to the €100 million loan from the AFD, the project includes a €15 million grant from the European Union. The Blue Mediterranean Partnership is contributing an additional €2 million. Together, the three contributions bring the declared funding total to €117 million.
This breakdown was already listed in the international IATI database, where the record was updated on August 31, 2026, more than two months before the signing in Rabat. The €100 million is therefore the French loan, while the additional €17 million comes from two other partners.
A loan repayable over thirteen years
The French financing is a concessional loan granted directly to the ANP for a term of thirteen years, with no guarantee from the Moroccan state. The port agency will repay it. The AFD, a French public bank, also explains that it primarily funds its loans on financial markets.
The program, titled “Green and Resilient Ports,” will fund the rehabilitation of port infrastructure, the expansion and modernization of fishing ports, and renewable energy and desalination facilities. It also provides for the electrification of quays to reduce emissions from ships at berth.
Several ports in southern Morocco are among the sites involved: Tan-Tan, Tarfaya, Laâyoune, Boujdour, Dakhla and Lamhiriz. These projects are part of the National Ports Agency’s 2023-2030 investment program, which France had already pledged to support during Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Morocco on October 28, 2024.
