Kingdom of Morocco

Fes – Oujda Motorway(Taza – Oujda Section)
Loan No: 534 Interest Rate: 3.0 %
Beneficiary: Société Nationale des Autoroutes du Maroc Grace Period: 5 years
Project Cost: KD 376.1 million Maturity: 22 years
Amount of Loan: KD 27.0 million Repayment: 33 semi-annual installments
Date of Board Approval: - First Installment: 5 years following the first disbursement
Date of Loan Agreement: 2009-05-26 Date of Loan Effectiveness: 2029-02-11


Objectives:

The project aims at improving land transportation services on the road network to accommodate the rapidly growing road traffic and reduce traffic accidents. This project also contributes to the economic and social development of the north eastern regions of Morocco, and links Arab Maghreb countries, as it is part of the Arab Maghreb Union Motorway.

Description:

The project comprises the construction of a motorway between Fes and Oujda. The total length of this motorway is approximately 323 km, and it is divided into two main sections. The first section is Fes – Taza with a length of about 127 km, and the second section is Taza – Oujda with a length of about 196 km. The project, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2010, includes the following components:

  1. Motorway Construction: This includes civil works related to the construction of the motorway, drainage works, construction of over-passes and under-passes, as well as the construction of bridges over the rivers. 
  2. Ancillary Works: This includes traffic lights and other safety equipment, maintenance workshops, toll stations and related equipment. It also includes extending and restoring the services affected by the project such as water pipelines, telephone and electricity lines, in addition to building fences along the sides of the road. 
  3. Project Execution Supervision: This includes setting up a project implementation unit to manage and supervise the project execution, providing consultancy services to assist in project supervision and implementation of the technical aspects of the project, as well as obtaining the services of specialized quality control laboratories. 

Financing:

The Arab Fund provided a loan in 2007 in the amount of KD 30.0 million, raising the total financing provided by the Arab Fund for the project to KD 57.0 million, which covers about 15.2% of the total project cost. The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development provides two loans for a total amount of KD 30.0 million. The Islamic Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, the OPEC Fund for International Development and the Abu Dhabi Development Fund also contribute to the financing of the project with loans equivalent to KD 79.1 million, KD 74.4 million, KD 7.9 million and KD 13.4 million, respectively. The borrower, Société Nationale des Autoroutes du Maroc, and the Moroccan Government will cover the remaining cost of the project and any additional cost that may arise.