Morocco Secures $275 Million World Bank Loan for Disaster Risk Management

In a statement, the Minister of Finance thanked the World Bank for agreeing to support the government’s efforts, through this financing, in the implementation of a regime to cover the consequences of catastrophic events, which came into effect on January 1, 2020.

According to Mohamed Benchaaboun, this regime consists of an insurance component for policyholders and an allocation component for people without coverage. This operation was designed to help the country manage the financial impact of natural disasters and climate shocks, but also to upgrade the institutional framework governing disaster risk management, the World Bank noted in the same press release issued in December 2019.

Jesko Hentschel, World Bank Country Director for the Maghreb, in turn, said that this new deferred drawdown financing is intended to help Morocco develop a comprehensive framework for disaster risk management, building on a previous World Bank-financed project - the Integrated Disaster Risk Management and Resilience Program.

It should be noted that the credit line can be disbursed at any time within a period of three years, to be renewed four times to cover a total period of 15 years. In addition, an initial commission, equal to 0.5% of the loan amount, will be paid upon signing the financing agreement, to which will be added the payment of a renewal commission of 0.25% for any possible extension.