MOROCCO: FIEM Lends €5 Million for Two Drinking Water Plants in Zag and Moulay Brahim

The Government of Spain has granted a €5 million loan to Morocco’s National Water and Electricity Office (ONEE). The loan will finance the construction of two drinking water plants in the cities of Zag and Moulay Brahim.

Morocco has obtained new financing for the implementation of its drinking water supply policy. The loan of 5 million euros is granted by the Government of Spain, through the Fund for the Internationalization of Enterprises (FIEM). This funding comes just a few months after the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) granted a loan of 52.6 million euros. The German development agency’s funding is intended for the rehabilitation and extension of the National Water and Electricity Officer’s (ONEE) drinking water facilities.

The Moroccan state-owned company will use the FIEM funding to build two new drinking water plants in Zag, a town in the Guelmim-Oued Noun region, and in Moulay Brahim in the Marrakech-Safi region.

The stations will be of the “compact type”, i.e. modular systems with rapid deployment. According to the Moroccan authorities, the reverse osmosis technique will be used in the installations. The aim is to purify the water to reduce the mineral content.The FIEM loan will also finance the maintenance and upkeep of the future Zag and Moulay Brahim water treatment plants for five years. For the Spanish government, this project is also of strategic importance, as it represents a new step in commercial relations with Morocco. The financial collaboration between the Cherifian Kingdom and Spain goes back more than ten years.

Source : Afrik 21