In 2019, the Moroccan government launched a national strategy to improve financial inclusion across the country. To achieve the objectives set in that strategy, the executives are working with public and private partners.  

Last Friday, the World Bank’s board of directors approved a third Development Policy Loan (DPL) of $450 million for Morocco. 

According to an IMF release dated April 3, 2023, this DPL aims to support the Moroccan government in the implementation of reforms to improve financial inclusion, digital entrepreneurship, and individuals and businesses’ access to infrastructure and digital services.

“This third financing is in line with the recommendations of the New Development Model (NDM), which emphasizes the need for a paradigm shift to promote inclusive, private sector-led growth to improve public services and reduce social and spatial disparities,” indicated Jesko Hentschel, Country Director for the Maghreb and Malta at the World Bank.

The first DPL, amounting to $500 million, was approved in 2020. In June 2021, a second one -$450 million- was approved. Combined with the new one, the total DPL secured by Morocco amounts to $1.4 billion. 

It is a continuation of the $700 million financing the World Bank approved, in 2019,  to support financial inclusion and the digital economy in Morocco.

The various funding enabled Morocco to significantly push back the barriers to financial and digital inclusion. Today, 44% of Moroccans have a bank account compared to 29% in 2017, and 30% of them use digital payments compared to 17% in 2017, the IMF release reported.

“The infrastructure for digital payments has expanded with 31% of rural districts now covered by mobile payment networks and 19 mobile payment providers in operation,” the IMF indicates. 

Samira Njoya