Morocco: EBRD commits more funds to ONEE

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved a €65m sovereign guaranteed loan to Office National de l’Electricité et de l’Eau Potable (ONEE) to expand drinking water supply in the Azilal, Ben Guerir and Ouarzazate regions. The facility will also support the third phase of ONEE’s performance improvement programme for drinking water production and distribution. ONEE finance director Nawal Khalifa said the signing represented the EBRD’s second project with the state power and water utility following a €60m loan approved in March 2013 to support the long-running electricity access Programme d’Electrification Rurale Global (PERG) and implementation of a smart metering pilot study.