The African Development Bank’s board of directors has approved a new €205 million loan to Morocco, earmarked for the Railway Infrastructure Development Support Project. The program will strengthen the Kenitra-Marrakech rail corridor, extend the country’s high-speed line, and modernize existing infrastructure, according to Finances News Hebdo. The decision underscores the growing centrality of transport within the decades-long partnership between the Kingdom and the pan-African institution.
The new financing builds on a relationship spanning nearly six decades. While the AfDB’s earliest support to Morocco targeted foundational sectors such as water, agriculture, education, health and energy, transport infrastructure has gradually become one of the central pillars of the bilateral cooperation, the magazine reported.
Over the years, Morocco has turned the expansion of its road, rail, port and airport networks into a genuine driver of economic growth and regional integration. According to the AfDB’s own assessments, this long-term strategy has strengthened the mobility of people, significantly improved the movement of goods, and boosted the country’s overall competitiveness on the international stage.
Road development was an early milestone in this roadmap, shortening distances between regions and easing daily economic exchange. That momentum accelerated with the construction of highways, including the Marrakech-Agadir axis, now one of the country’s key economic arteries, while the Guercif-Nador route is designed to connect the future Nador West Med port complex to national transport corridors. Parallel investment in ports and railways has built an increasingly integrated logistics chain, anchored by the Tanger Med hub, and airport upgrades in Marrakech, Agadir, Fes and Rabat have absorbed rising traffic while supporting tourism and international connectivity.
Beyond individual projects, the Bank views this body of work as part of a deeper structural transformation of the Moroccan economy. Improved connectivity does more than ease transport flows, it strengthens the appeal of Moroccan territories and supports the emergence of new, competitive industrial and logistics hubs, a vision the new €205 million loan is designed to reinforce further.