Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita, affirmed on Wednesday in New York that under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God glorify him, the Kingdom of Morocco has made the integration between public action and private initiative a structuring pillar of its development model.
This came in a speech delivered by Mr. Bourita at the opening of a high-level event, jointly organized by the Kingdom of Morocco and the United Nations Development Programme, under the theme: "Financing the Future: Public-Private Partnerships for Development Investment," on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.
Ministers and senior officials, alongside representatives of international organizations, financial institutions, the private sector, and development actors, gathered at this meeting to discuss ways to mobilize new partnerships to meet the growing needs for development financing.
The Minister explained that public finances, despite their utmost importance, cannot alone finance development ambitions, at a time when the annual deficit for financing sustainable development goals is estimated at about 4.3 trillion dollars.
Faced with this situation, Mr. Bourita pointed out that the challenge is no longer limited to mobilizing more resources, but lies in innovating new approaches to development financing, particularly through public-private partnerships, capable of bringing public resources closer to private capital, and employing innovation, technology, and expertise.
In this context, Mr. Bourita recalled that Morocco, under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, has brought about a profound transformation in its investment climate, with the aim of gradually raising the contribution of the private sector to about two-thirds of national investment by 2035.
This approach is based, in particular, on the new Investment Charter and on public mechanisms aimed at stimulating private investment, including the Mohammed VI Investment Fund.
The Minister added that the Moroccan experience shows that investment is not measured solely by mobilized capital, but also by job opportunities created, infrastructure completed, services improved, and sustainable value creation for citizens. In this regard, he pointed to the "Noor Ouarzazate Solar Power Station," "Tanger Med Port," and the "Tangier-Casablanca High-Speed Rail Line" as embodiments of this approach.
Regarding the African dimension, Mr. Bourita highlighted that given the annual needs for financing infrastructure in Africa, estimated at between 181 and 221 billion dollars for the period 2023-2030, the challenge requires "transforming African potential into projects, and projects into investments."
In this framework, he shed light on the structuring initiatives launched by Morocco under the leadership of His Majesty the King, particularly the "Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline" project, the "Atlantic Initiative for Sahel Countries," and the "Atlantic African States Route," all stemming from one ambition: connecting economies, bringing markets closer, and creating conditions for shared prosperity.
The Minister also emphasized the significant role of multilateral development banks in reducing risks, enhancing project bankability, and mobilizing long-term private capital.
He also called on the UN Development System to leverage its field presence and expertise to bring governments, financial institutions, and the private sector closer together, and to support the preparation of bankable projects, and to promote tailored solutions that consider the different categories and vulnerability levels of each country.
In this regard, Mr. Bourita proposed four avenues for action: reducing legislative disparities and moving towards common frameworks for public-private partnerships, exploring regional mechanisms for joint investment, developing regional platforms for guarantees and risk mitigation, and strengthening a differentiated financing approach that considers, in addition to GDP, the structural vulnerability of countries, particularly geographic isolation and climate vulnerability.
In conclusion, the Minister called for "creating the conditions for the emergence of a new generation of mobilized financing partnerships," reiterating Morocco's readiness to continue sharing its expertise with its partners within the framework of "South-South" cooperation and trilateral cooperation, based on solidarity, shared development, and mutually beneficial partnerships.
