The Ouarzazate solar power plant is an ambitious and innovative project that will make Morocco "a champion of green growth in Africa", affirmed the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Donald Kaberuka.

In a testimony broadcast during the launch ceremony of the construction work of the first power plant of the integrated solar complex in the Ouarzazate region, presided over by HM King Mohammed VI on Friday in the rural commune of Ghessate (Ouarzazate Province), Mr. Kaberuka noted that this project, the first of its kind financed by the AfDB in Africa, represents "an important step in Morocco's green growth strategy".

He welcomed, in this regard, the spirit of "innovation which is at the base of the Moroccan approach" for the realisation of this project, the first in Africa to use concentrated solar energy technology, with the objective of reaching a capacity of 500 megawatts installed.

The project is also "an example of innovative financial structuring based on a public-private partnership", added the president of the AfDB, noting that Morocco has adopted the same approach for its ambitious 2,000-megawatt wind plan, of which the African Bank is a financial partner.

Noting that the AfDB is the Kingdom's leading development partner, Mr. Kaberuka recalled that the cooperation between Morocco and the African Development Bank in the field of energy dates back about forty years, for a total amount of commitments that amounts to 15 billion DH, of which nearly 8 billion DH invested in 2012 in solar, wind and electricity projects.