The EBRD will bet big on the Nador West Med project, Phase I. And it is today that its Board of Directors is to meet to approve the granting of a 200 million euro loan to the public company Nador West Med (NWM), responsible for the development, planning and management of this port and industrial complex. This loan to be granted by the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) should represent more than 20% of the financial envelope intended for this first phase of development of the project, which consists of the construction of port infrastructure.

Once approved, it will constitute the largest amount ever granted by the EBRD to Morocco for a single project. All infrastructure work should require total funding of approximately 10 billion DH. This project will be financed by equity for approximately 4.6 billion DH by the main shareholders of NWM: 2.24 billion DH to be provided by the State, 1 billion by the Hassan II Fund, 800 million by the Tanger Med Special Agency (TMSA) and 550 million by the National Ports Agency (ANP). To these own funds will be added loans to be mobilised from foreign donors of approximately 470 million euros. In addition to the EBRD, the Nador West Med company has also requested financial support from the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD). This Fund plans to provide 60 million Kuwaiti dinars, or more than 170 million euros. Added to this is the contribution of the African Development Bank (AfDB), which plans to invest at least 100 million euros. According to our sources, its Board of Directors is to approve this loan project during this second half of 2015.

Note that the start of construction work on the Nador West Med infrastructure, which will be entrusted to a company to be selected by tender, is scheduled for 2016 at the latest, the date of financial closing, for completion towards the end of 2019. The international call for tenders for the construction of the port infrastructure was launched at the end of last May. The opening of the bids is scheduled for 28 September. Recall that the overall project involves the development in several phases of an integrated industrial and port complex in the Bétoya zone in the province of Nador. Phase II will focus on the development of the free zone (the implementation of the first tranche of approximately 500 ha of which is planned from 2020), the development of a commercial, industrial, logistical and service hub. The rest will be developed according to the demand of industries.