The World Bank has approved a $300 million loan to help Morocco strengthen its municipalities, the international financial institution announced Thursday. The money will go to the Municipal Performance Project, set by Morocco to «build capacity by providing a sustainable performance-based framework for municipalities to work with», the same source said. «The program objective is to promote territorial development by strengthening Morocco's municipalities», the World Bank's Maghreb Country Director Jesko Henschel said. «The program will target key gaps in performance to promote a transparent, efficient, and accountable urban management system that can drive long-term local development and enhance Moroccan cities' attractiveness», he added. This project is also expected to help the Moroccan Ministry of Interior create an annual performance assessment of municipalities. They will be given performance-based grants to improve management and service delivery. The same program will allow the Ministry of Interior to «offer participating municipalities a toolkit which will help them equip themselves with the skills needed to boost their performance». The project will be implemented in five years from 2019 to 2024. It is targeting 100 of Morocco's largest municipalities that house 80 percent of the urban population and half of the total population of the country, the World Bank explains. The program will also be paying close attention to women's civic concern and participation in decision-making.
