The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a $510,000 grant to help Morocco expand digital payments and reduce the country’s heavy reliance on cash.
The funding, provided through the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI), will support the Electronic Payments Acceptance Development Fund set up by Morocco’s central bank, Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM), the bank said in a statement.
The money is meant to help roll out digital payment solutions on a larger scale, making it easier for people and businesses to access financial services while encouraging a move away from cash transactions.
It adds to funds already mobilised by Bank Al-Maghrib to establish the scheme, which focuses on encouraging merchants to accept electronic payments. The aim is to reduce the use of cash and support Morocco’s transition towards a more digital economy.
The project fits into Morocco’s broader Digital Payments Development Strategy, particularly efforts to promote electronic payments, digitise transactions and cut dependence on physical currency.
“This agreement will help expand access to financial services for people and merchants and strengthen the national payments ecosystem, laying the foundations for an inclusive and sustainable digital economy,” said Achraf Tarsim, head of the AfDB’s country office in Morocco.
Bank Al-Maghrib has described the fund as a key tool for speeding up change. Its Director General, Abderrahim Bouazza, said the fund “is a structuring lever to accelerate the adoption of electronic payments in Morocco”.
Launched in 2019 and hosted by the AfDB, the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility supports initiatives in three main areas: digital financial infrastructure, policy and regulation, and products and innovation, with women’s inclusion and capacity-building treated as cross-cutting priorities.
ADFI’s partners include the French Development Agency (AFD), the African Development Bank Group, the Gates Foundation, Luxembourg, France and India.
Morocco has been working with the African Development Bank for decades. Since 1978, the bank group has mobilised nearly €15bn to finance more than 150 projects and programmes in the country, covering sectors such as transport, social protection, water and sanitation, energy, agriculture, governance and the financial sector.
