Morocco’s Central Bank Buys World Bank bonds

Bank Al Maghrib — the Central Bank of Morocco — has purchased EUR 200 mn worth of sustainable development bonds from the World Bank to bolster the Washington-based lender’s climate financing efforts, according to a statement.

The EUR 100 mn three-year and EUR 100 mn five-year sustainable development bond transactions will back the financing of the World Bank’s sustainable development activities and pay annual fixed rate coupons to the Moroccan central bank. They mature on October 6, 2026, and October 6, 2028, the statement notes.

“The transactions are an opportunity for Morocco, as the first host of the annual meetings on the African continent in 50 years, to raise awareness for the urgency of mainstreaming climate action in the region and across the continent,” the statement read.

 Morocco continues to be among the countries in the region most impacted by climate change. It has entered its fifth consecutive year of drought, shifting into an era of water scarcity that officials say is one of the biggest threats facing the kingdom. 

The North African country is working on projects for recycling wastewater, building more desalination plants, expanding the more efficient drip irrigation methods of cultivation, and building channels to connect rivers and supply more regions with water, according to officials.