World Bank approves $500mn loan to Morocco for jobs and green growth

The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors has approved a $500mn loan to Morocco under the first of a three-operation Development Policy Loan series aimed at supporting job creation and green growth, according to a statement on June 15. 

The financing targets three interconnected priorities: improving labour market policies, strengthening the business environment, particularly for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and supporting investment in clean energy, energy efficiency, and export-oriented pharmaceuticals.

The programme aims to expand active labour market schemes to reach more than 330,000 job seekers by 2029, while improving alignment between education and training systems and private sector needs. To support women's labour force participation, the initiative will create more than 40,000 new licensed childcare places and open 1,200 direct jobs for women in the sector.

For SMEs, Morocco is modernising its corporate distress resolution framework, strengthening loan guarantee mechanisms, and streamlining investment procedures through regional investment centres. On the green economy front, the operation supports the removal of barriers to private-sector participation in renewables, develops energy-efficiency services, and strengthens the pharmaceutical industry's export capacity, with export targets expected to rise sevenfold by 2029.

Ahmadou Moustapha Ndiaye, the World Bank's Regional Director for the Maghreb and Malta, said the reforms address one of Morocco's most persistent obstacles to job creation, the slow emergence and growth of high-potential enterprises, and aim to create conditions for business growth, financial resilience, and sustainable investment.