Morocco - Water Access Sustainability Security Project (PPSAE) - (Additional Financing)

The main goal of the Water Access Sustainability and Security Project (PPSAE) is to secure access to drinking water in the Guercif, Zagora, Al Hoceima, Tangier and Béni Mellal provinces. The project design was based on the priority needs identified by ONEE-BO (ONEE Water Branch) under its 2016-2020 investment programme. The area includes all these regions’ urban and rural agglomerations witnessing a significant industrial boom, in view of the new “Mohammed VI Tangier Tech” City in Tangier, the Tadla Agropole Project at Béni Mellal, as well as other industrial and agro-industrial zones in El Hoceima and Béni Mellal. The project was estimated in 2018 to cost UA 194 million (Bank-financed activities cost of UA 97 million, comprising an ADB loan of EUR 79.33 million and an AGTF loan of USD 43.36 million), and was expected to be implemented over five (5) years (2019-2023). The proposed supplementary financing is justified by the particular social and health context, linked to the COVID-19 crisis, which broke out in Morocco in early 2020. It is also justified by the PPSAE’s integrated and indissociable activities, and finally by the urgency of the water stress experienced in the regions benefiting from the loan, namely Tangier, Guercif and Zagora, and the need to find rapid solutions to remedy this problem. The project is designed to secure access to drinking water in both urban and rural areas in the designated regions.