Press Release: Morocco: EIB lends EUR 200 million for schools modernisation programme

The European Investment Bank is to lend EUR 200 mn to Morocco to help finance an ambitious schools modernisation programme, improving access to education for 6 to 15-year-olds. The loan contract was signed on 7 July, 2009, by EIB Vice President Philippe de Fontaine Vive and Moroccan Economy and Finance Minister Salaheddine Mezouar on the margins of a meeting of EU and Mediterranean finance ministers to review activity of FEMIP, the Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership managed by EIB. The total cost of the four year (2009-2012) schools programme is estimated at EUR 3.1 bn, of which the Kingdom of Morocco plans to finance EUR 2.6 bn. The EIB loan will cover roughly 40 percent of the external financing needs. Other partners include the European Commission, Agence Francaise de Développement and the African Development Bank.