The funding, provided under the First Morocco Jobs and Green Growth Development Policy Loan, is the first of three planned operations designed to expand employment opportunities, particularly for young people and women, while strengthening small and medium‑sized enterprises and accelerating investment in clean energy and high‑value industries.

The programme supports Morocco’s national Jobs Roadmap by scaling up active labour market policies and improving the alignment between education, training and the needs of the private sector. More than 330 000 job seekers are expected to benefit by 2029. Measures to boost women’s participation in the labour market include expanding licensed childcare services, with plans to add over 40 000 new places and create about 1 200 direct jobs for women in the sector.

Beyond labour market reforms, the operation aims to improve the business environment, particularly for SMEs. Key measures include modernising the insolvency framework to better manage financial distress, strengthening credit guarantee schemes for smaller firms and streamlining investment processes through Regional Investment Centres.

The financing also supports Morocco’s ambition to expand renewable energy and energy efficiency by removing barriers that have limited private investment. In parallel, it seeks to position the pharmaceutical sector as a stronger export industry, with export targets set to grow nearly sevenfold by 2029.

World Bank officials said the programme takes an integrated approach, recognising the links between job creation, business growth and the green transition. It addresses persistently high youth unemployment, low female labour force participation and sector‑specific constraints that have held back private investment and increased vulnerability to external shocks.

“These reforms tackle one of the most persistent barriers to job creation in Morocco, which is the slow emergence of high‑growth enterprises,” said Ahmadou Moustapha Ndiaye, World Bank Division Director for the Maghreb and Malta. “By improving the business environment and supporting high‑potential sectors, this operation creates the conditions for sustained investment and employment.”