Morocco gets $393m for rail project

  1. Posted on Tuesday 28 December 2010 - 09:20
    KingsleyKobo
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    Kingsley Kobo, AfricaNews reporter in Abidjan, Ivory Coast
    African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $393.5 million loan to increase the capacity on the Tangiers-Marrakesh railway line in Morocco.
    Morocco: AfDB approves $393m for rail project
    “This loan – the biggest ever extended by the AfDB to Morocco – will help increase rail traffic fluidity and shuttle frequency for mainline and freight trains and reduce journey times on the entire Tangiers-Marrakesh line starting from 2016,” said AfDB infrastructure director, Gilbert Mbesherubusa, according to Trade Arabia News Service.

    “We are proud to strongly support this project in light of the strategic importance of such infrastructure in the national economy’s competitiveness,” Mbesherubusa added.

    With a total cost of about 5.1 billion Moroccan dirham, the project is a major component of the overall Moroccan rail investment programme estimated at 12.8 billion Moroccan dirham, between 2010 and 2015.

    The project aims at increasing capacity on the Kenitra-Rabat-Casablanca and Casablanca-Settat-Marrakesh sections of the Tangiers-Marrakesh railway line linking the South to the North and East of the country.

    Rail traffic on the Casablanca-Marrakesh link has increased considerably to double digit rates in recent years, due to socio-economic, cultural and tourism boom in the two urban centres.

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