Morocco gets $188m to build three desalinisation plants

Moroccan fertiliser company OCP Group has secured $188 million worth of funding to build three new seawater desalinisation plants as part of the government’s emergency plan for drinking water supply.

The state-backed company signed an agreement with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to fund its green investment programme.

The construction of the new desalinisation plants will be funded through $150 million from AfDB, $18 million from the Canada-African Development Bank Climate Fund and $20 million from the World Bank-backed Clean Technology Fund.

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The plants will have a total annual capacity of 110 million cubic metres, and provide unconventional water to the OCP Group’s industrial and mining sites.

Up to 75 million cubic metres of drinking water will be provided for the towns of Safi and El Jadida and the areas around the OCP’s Safi and Jorf plants. The move will benefit over 1.5 million people.

“The project will also help to optimise water-resource management in the OCP Group’s industrial activities by using desalinated seawater,” said AfDB country office manager for Morocco Achraf Tarsim.

Karim Lotfi Senhadji, finance director of OCP Group, added that the company’s sustainability objectives include achieving 100 percent renewable energy by 2027, self-sufficiency in green ammonia by 2032 and full carbon neutrality by 2040.

AfDB has invested over $13 billion across various sectors in Morocco since 1978.