The Kuwaiti Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) signed a loan agreement for KD15m ($51m) to Morocco’s National Office for Water and Electricity (ONEE) on 28 January for a water distribution scheme in the Chefchaouen area.

The funds will be spent on water infrastructure for Chefchaouen and surrounding villages, which will provide water for nearly 200,000 people.

The programme, launched in 2010, includes a 150 litres a second water treatment plant (WTP) for Martell Valley dam, and 590km of water pipelines in Chefchaouen and Tetouan provinces. It was scheduled for completion in 2015.

The project had an original budget of $41m, split into two parts. $12.5m was designated for the WTP and 15km of pipeline in Chefchaouen. The remaining $27.5m was designated for 25 pumping stations, 17 reservoirs with a total capacity of 6,500 cubic metres and 550km of pipeline in rural areas.

Since 1990, AFESD has provided over $200m in loans to ONEE. A $24m loan on the same project was signed in 2013, for a period of 22 years.

A $272 Islamic Development Bank loan in 2014 is financing improving water supply in Agadir and Chtouka Ait Baha.

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