Morocco’s National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) has secured up to €250 million in financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to modernise the country’s drinking water infrastructure and improve system performance under its 2025–2030 investment plan. The loan, guaranteed by Morocco’s national enterprise guarantee company SNGFE, will support projects that cut water losses, enhance energy efficiency and strengthen the resilience of drinking water services in a context of mounting climate and drought pressures.
ONEE–EBRD programme targets performance and resilience
Under the agreement, the EBRD is extending a loan of up to €250 million to ONEE for its Water Performance Improvement Programme, structured as a €120 million committed tranche and a €130 million uncommitted tranche. The facility is designed to finance priority investments in water production, treatment and distribution assets across Morocco, with a strong focus on reducing physical and commercial losses and upgrading ageing infrastructure.
The financing aligns with ONEE’s 2025–2030 investment plan, which aims to strengthen and modernise drinking water systems and ensure reliable service in both urban and rural areas. According to the EBRD’s project disclosure, the loan will be guaranteed by the Société Nationale de Garantie et de Financement de l’Entreprise (SNGFE) under its programme for public institutions and state‑owned companies, reinforcing the credit framework for large water investments.
Cutting non‑revenue water and optimising pumping and treatment
The Water Performance Improvement Programme is expected to target both technical and operational efficiency, including investments that directly affect pumping, treatment and distribution performance. EBRD materials highlight that funds will support measures to improve the technical performance of existing water production facilities, rehabilitate distribution networks, and deploy better monitoring and control systems to tackle non‑revenue water.
For equipment suppliers and solution providers, this creates demand across several segments: high‑efficiency pumps and motors, pressure management systems, SCADA and telemetry, leak detection technologies, metering and billing systems, and retrofits for water treatment plants. By reducing water and energy losses in the network, ONEE can lower operating costs while extending scarce water resources amid rising climate stress and recurrent droughts.
Climate resilience and green finance dimension
The EBRD frames the programme as part of its broader support for sustainable infrastructure and climate‑resilient water management in Morocco. In recent years, the bank has financed multiple water projects in the country, including irrigation distribution systems in the water‑stressed Saïss plain and resilience projects combining drinking water supply improvements with wastewater treatment upgrades.
The new €250 million facility continues that trajectory by backing investments that improve water security while lowering the sector’s energy footprint through more efficient pumping and network operations. For Morocco, which faces increasing water scarcity and pressure on aquifers, these upgrades are essential to maintaining service continuity for households, industry and agriculture.
Strategic implications for Africa’s water infrastructure market
For the wider African water and pump industry, the ONEE–EBRD deal reinforces several trends that are reshaping project pipelines and procurement priorities. Multilateral financiers are channelling more resources into performance‑based programmes that target non‑revenue water and energy efficiency, rather than only funding new greenfield schemes.
This shift favours suppliers that can combine hardware—such as high‑efficiency pumping systems, smart valves and metering—with digital tools for monitoring, diagnostics and asset management. As more utilities seek blended solutions to modernise existing networks, Africa’s pump and water technology companies that can demonstrate life‑cycle savings, reduced leakage and lower kWh per cubic metre pumped are likely to be better positioned for upcoming tenders.
