World Bank and AFD: co-financing scales up in Morocco

Resources are shrinking, while financing needs continue to grow – a reality widely recognized across the development community. From roads and transport to energy and climate action, partner countries need to invest more at a time when available funding is under increasing pressure. Faced with this challenge, AFD and the World Bank have made a clear choice: to pool their resources rather than work in parallel.

In Morocco, where the event "The Power of Co-financing" is being held, this cooperation is already well established. For around a decade, the two institutions have co-financed large-scale projects in key sectors such as energy, urban mobility, and urban development. By financing projects jointly, they are able to support initiatives that are more ambitious, more costly, and often more transformative for the country. The Noor solar complex – one of the largest in the world – is the most widely known example.

Tackling aid fragmentation

But co-financing is not only about mobilizing more funding. It also addresses a very practical challenge: the fragmentation of aid. Too often, partner countries must work with multiple donors, each with its own rules, timelines, and procedures. The result is projects that take longer to launch and are more complex to manage.

Joint financing, by contrast, simplifies the process. Partners align upstream, share risks, and move forward in the same direction. “As resources become scarcer, co-financing makes it possible to do more with less. By working closely with the World Bank, we are supporting projects that are more robust and better aligned with partner countries’ priorities,” said Rémy Rioux, AFD’s chief executive officer.

This is precisely the approach that AFD, the World Bank, and Morocco’s Ministry of Economy and Finance will discuss at the forum organized on 11 February. The goal is to explore how this type of cooperation can be scaled up, in particular by attracting more private financing.

An issue that goes beyond Morocco

The challenge extends well beyond Morocco. In a world shaped by multiple crises and tightening budgets, co-financing is changing status. It is no longer just one tool among others, but a condition for continuing to finance development effectively. Working together rather than in isolation is a simple idea, but one that is set to become increasingly central in the years ahead.