France Provides $200 Million Loan to Support Morocco’s Universal Health Insurance Expansion

Specifically, this amount comes in support of two projects concerning support for the generalization of compulsory Health Insurance (AMO), and a second related to Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB). These two agreements were initialed by Fouzi Lekjaa, Minister Delegate in charge of the Budget, and Mihoub Mezouaghi, Director of the French Development Agency (AFD), in the presence of Hélène Le Gal, Ambassador of France to Morocco, and Khalid Ait Taleb, Minister of Health and Social Protection.

The first financing, in the amount of 150 million euros, aims to support Morocco towards the generalization of compulsory health insurance (AMO) and the strengthening of its health system. It is part of the support for the social protection reform carried by law 09-21. It will contribute to reducing inequalities in access to health care, by supporting the integration of an additional 22 million people into the AMO scheme, thus aiming to achieve universal health coverage.

It will also support the strengthening of the health care offer at the national level, through specific devices (coordinated care pathways, e-health tools) in two regions of the Kingdom. A grant of 4 million euros (around 40 million DH) accompanies this loan, which will allow the mobilization of recognized French expertise in support of the reform’s stakeholders, via Expertise France (French public technical cooperation agency, AFD group).

As for the second financing, in the amount of 50 million euros, it is a continuation of a 100 million euro financing signed in 2019 and testifies to the progress of this approach in Morocco, under the leadership of the Center of Excellence for Gender-Responsive Budgeting of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the statement said.