Morocco Microfinance Development Project

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The objective of the Microfinance Development Project for Morocco is to promote access to finance to low income households and micro and small enterprises through the promotion of a sustainable and inclusive microfinance sector. The project has three components. The first component is strengthening the institutional, legal, regulatory, tax and governance framework for microfinance. This component aims to: (a) prepare an action plan to assess and reinforce the capacity of the National Federation of Microcredit Associations of Morocco (FNAM); and (b) support activities contributing to the strengthening of the legal, regulatory, tax and governance framework of the microfinance sector. This component will also finance goods, services, travel, and incremental operating costs incurred by the Project Management Unit (PMU) in the implementation and management of the project. It has following two sub-components: (a) prepare an action plan, including a comprehensive assessment to reinforce the capacity of the FNAM; and (b) carrying out studies to inform the development of a modern legal, regulatory, tax and governance framework for microfinance. The second component is strengthening the market infrastructure, product innovation and funding sources for microfinance. This component focuses on activities aimed at: (a) building common platforms improving the efficiency and effectiveness of microcredit associations; (b) building market infrastructure in support of microenterprises; and (c) promoting the strengthening and diversification of funding. It has following three sub-components: (i) promoting innovative common platforms and new products for Microfinance Institutions (MFIs); (ii) building market infrastructure for micro entrepreneurs; and (iii) strengthening and diversifying funding sources. The third component is integrating microfinance into a national financial inclusion strategy. This component aims to integrate the national microfinance roadmap into a wider, comprehensive national financial inclusion strategy. In a first step, this component aims to conduct a cross-cutting stocktaking exercise of all previous and ongoing activities aimed at promoting financial inclusion, putting the microfinance sector in a larger financial sector development context. In a second phase, this component aims to build on the findings of the aforementioned activities to develop a comprehensive national financial inclusion strategy, to be developed in a structured consultative process with all key public and private sector stakeholders, and develop an action plan with specific objectives and targets to achieve the aims of the strategy, as well as a clearly defined Monitoring and Evaluation (M and E) framework to measure progress.